Beyond the Veil
by Agnostics Puppet
Summary: Hermione develops a way to activate the veil and she and Harry dive in to get Sirius back. I may write a prequel to this if enough people want it.
1. Meet the family

Harry glanced over at his partner, and signaled for silence before setting up some anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards to keep anyone from escaping. Neville Longbottom, the once portly, unsure boy had grown into a strong man over the years and a good friend. Since the incident in the department of mysteries, Neville had dedicated his life to becoming an Auror along side Harry, and Harry couldn't think of anyone more focused. Neville nodded his head once, acknowledging that he understood.

Once Neville had overcome his insecurity, Harry noticed that his friend was a very good and quite powerful wizard. It was simply that the loss of his parents had hit him hard, much harder than Harry's own loss. Over the last two years at Hogwarts, Neville had thrown everything he had into Harry's DA and the results had shown. Harry couldn't help but smirk at the memory of their sixth year, when the real 'Mad-eye' Moody had come to Hogwarts to teach DADA. That the old Auror had been shocked at the DA member's performance in his class would be a huge understatement. Still, at the end of the year, he had insisted on a dueling tournament

In the finals, Harry had beaten Neville to emerge the champion, but only just. Theirs was a grueling match lasting over ten minutes but that wasn't the only high point of the tourney. No, the match where Neville had trounced Malfoy soundly was. It was in the match that Neville had shown that he had grown up by completely ignoring all of Malfoy's taunts, only responding by throwing spells with greater frequency. The clincher came, when holding Malfoy at wand point after disarming the boy, Neville calmly asked him if he conceded the match. Then, when Malfoy told him to stuff it, Neville smiled, shrugged and stunned him response.

Neville raised an eyebrow at Harry's smirk, but Harry shook his head and schooled his face into a neutral, determined mask. "Ready?" he mouthed to his partner. Neville nodded once and Harry held up three fingers…then two…then one.

Harry quickly stood and fired a _Reducto_ curse at the door to the hotel room where Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, the last of Voldemort's inner circle, were hiding out. He and Neville wasted no time casting shields and striding into the dust filled room. Harry glanced through the haze for any sign of the two fugitives but judging by Neville's, "Aurors! Freeze!" his partner had found them first.

Unfortunately, the two former death eaters didn't want to come with out a fight and Harry dove to the side as a sickly green curse flew in his direction. He dove into the bathroom just to the side of the entry foyer a fired a few of his own spells back before ducking back behind the doorway.

He could hear a few more spells being exchanged then heard Bellatrix shriek, "Ministry lap dogs! We will never be taken alive!"

Neville leaned out from the upturned dinette set he was taking refuge behind and spat back, "They said alive, Lestrange! They didn't say anything about in once piece!" He finished his statement with a rather powerful_reducto_ that nearly vaporized the couch.

Harry peaked out again to see Rodolphus take new cover behind a recliner, but didn't see where Bellatrix went to. She was still conscious though if her response of, "If it isn't wee little Nevikins!" she cackled. "In such a hurry to join your parents?"

Harry heard Neville's wordless growl of fury punctuated by the trademark rapid fire disarming jinx he had patented in seventh year. But Bellatrix evaded them all and fired her own curse back, a dark purple arc that, judging by Neville's cry of pain, had hit its mark. Figuring that he should end this quickly, Harry transfigured the recliner into a coffee mug and proceeded to stun Rodolphus into a stupor.

He then hurried out into the sitting room proper to see Neville huddled behind his table, one arm clutching a nasty looking gouge in his chest that was gushing blood. "Lestrange!" Harry roared. Bellatrix turned to Harry with a surprised look on her face as she raised her wand in his direction.

Harry quickly banished the section of the couch she was crouched behind into the wall with a nasty crunching noise, crushing and trapping her behind it. She dropped her wand as her dislocated right arm spasmed in pain. Her crazed look changed into one of fear as Harry stalked over to her, his own face twisted into a visage of fury. He wordlessly stunned her then bound her with an _incarcerous_ spell before hurrying over to his partner and friend.

"You ok, mate?" he asked as he knelt down to inspect Neville's wounds.

Neville pulled his arm away revealing the extent of his injuries to Harry. The curse Bellatrix had fired left him with a deep gash from his left shoulder nearly to his right hip. "I've had worse," Neville managed to grit through the pain.

And he had.

Harry grimaced as he recalled an incident during the final confrontation with Voldemort two years ago during their seventh year at school. Harry was fighting his way through to Voldemort when he came upon Neville fighting along side his girl friend, Ginny Weasley. Harry had briefly considered helping them but the looked like they were holding their own, but as Harry turned around to continue looking for his nemesis, he heard Ginny's cry of anguish.

He whirled around to see none other than Draco Malfoy standing there, his wand raised and a nasty expression smeared across his face as he loomed over Neville's prone, face down body. There was a large area on his back that was still smoking and sizzling from the point blank _reducto_ that Malfoy had fired at him. Together, both Ginny and Harry had cursed, jinxed and hexed Malfoy's brain to much before he had much of a chance to react. Malfoy was still recovering in the long term ward in St. Mungo's. Turned out that the _reducto_ curse had nearly crushed Neville's spine beyond repair, but the miracle workers at the hospital had managed to get the boy back on his feet in no time, and they would again.

Harry gripped Neville's shoulder lightly in a show of support. "Hang tight," he said as he wandlessly dropped the anti-portkey wards. "We'll have you to St. Mungo's in no time. I'll come visit you when we have things wrapped up here."

Neville tried to smile but it came out as more of a wince as he activated his portkey and vanished.

Harry released a sigh as he collapsed into the recliner he had re-transfigured from the coffee mug as he watched the unconscious and bound forms of the Lestranges be hauled away by two burly looking Aurors. He ran one hand through his mess of black hair as his other found its way to the lightning bolt shaped scar that adorned his forehead. Since Voldemort's defeat, the scar had finally begun to fade, a testament to the fact that Tom Riddle was well and truly dead. An involuntary shudder ran down Harry's spine as he recalled none to fondly that fateful night three years ago.

Voldemort and his forces had stormed Hogwarts just after Easter. The fight had been going as expected, both sides suffering losses. Hagrid and Bill Weasley, just to name a few had been killed on the side of the light. Dumbledore had been struck down by a terrifying blood boiling curse that struck him as he and Harry had been defending the unconscious form of his friend, Ron. But the dark was not without its devastating losses either. Lucius Malfoy, Fenrir Greyback, and much to Harry's morbid satisfaction, Pettigrew had been killed or mortally wounded.

Perhaps the loss that affected Harry the most was Severus Snape. The potions master had bodily shielded Harry from a killing curse that was fired from Voldemort himself while Harry was still reeling from the shock of almost losing Hermione.

"Harry?"

Harry was startled from his reverie by a kind, deep voice. He looked up from the chair to see Kingsley Shacklebolt looking down at him, concern etching his dark skinned face. After Voldemort's defeat, Kingsley had been offered a position as Minister of Magic but he turned it down in favor of keeping his job as the head of the Auror department. "Kingsley," Harry said with a brief nod.

"Alright there, Harry?" He asked.

Harry sighed and rubbed his face vigorously for a brief moment before answering. "Yeah," he said hesitantly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just lost in my memories."

Kingsley nodded in understanding. He understood what the young man was going through, having fought in the battle of Hogwarts as well. Even after two years, the emotional wounds still hadn't faded. "You and Longbottom did well today," he said, offering Harry a hand up from the chair. "The Lestranges were the last of Voldemort's followers still at large."

Once on his feet, Harry rubbed his arm and sighed. "Not well enough," he said with his eyes downcast. "Neville was wounded. If I had-"

But Kingsley cut him off saying, "It was hardly your fault, Harry." Even after three years, Harry still had the tendency to blame himself for any short-comings of his friends. "Neville was simply wounded in the line of duty. It happens from time to time." Harry looked like he wanted to argue, so Kingsley continued with a wry smirk. "Look, don't dwell on it too much. You did a good job today, so why don't you take the rest of the day off. You have a lady-friend back at the Ministry that's been anxious to talk to you all day."

Harry smiled in spite of himself. "Hermione must have found something out," he said, thinking fondly of his fiancée. "She always gets excited when she does." He paused for a moment before nodding to himself. "Thanks, Kingsley. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, Harry disapparrated to St. Mungo's with a small pop.

* * *

Hermione sat at her desk in her office at the Department of Mysteries, dissecting her latest find, and agitating her already frazzled hair in frustration. She had been researching the Veil of Death for the past year and had made some amazing discoveries. The biggest was that the veil wasn't a gateway to the afterlife after all, but simply a doorway of sorts to other worlds. Two years ago, immediately after graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione had received an offer from the Ministry to work in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable. She jumped at the chance and soon found herself immersed in her current project after receiving a book from an anonymous person.

Hermione huffed in frustration and slammed the tome shut. She was getting nowhere pouring over the same passage for the third time. Standing up, she took a moment to calm and compose herself. There was no point in getting agitated in waiting on Harry. He would arrive when he arrived. Smoothing out her robes, she walked out of her office and into the former death chamber to examine the archway once again. As she studied the runes, she wondered about Harry's reaction to the news about the veil. A small smile spread on her face at the thought of her fiancé and when they finally realized their feeling for each other.

Hermione smiled at the memory of one of her best summers ever. Her parents had managed to make arrangements to bring Harry along with them to Italy on their vacation and while visiting the island of Sicily, Harry and Hermione finally realized their feelings for each other. Their love for each other hadn't diminished at all over the past five years since that summer, and Harry had proposed to her almost the moment she recovered from the horrendous injury she received during the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione accepted with a resounding 'yes'.

She had changed much physically in the three years since graduation. Her hair, having been bushy and unmanageable for as long as she could remember, finally calmed down after graduation but remained wavy and full. She still had her youthful and curvy figure and she delighted in driving her fiancé wild during the nights they spent in each others arms. She still had difficulty taking deep breaths however; just a reminder of the final battle.

Turning back to the veil, Hermione's feelings went back into the toilet as the frustration returned. The veil was a puzzle, but one she was determined to solve. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear someone sneak up behind her.

"I heard someone here wanted to speak with me?" the person asked.

Hermione gasped and whirled around. "Harry!" she cried happily. She flung herself into his arms and kissed him soundly on the lips.

Harry pulled away from the steamy kiss that left him dizzy. "Someone's happy to see me," he joked with a smile.

Hermione stayed in his arms but slapped his shoulder playfully. "I'm always happy to see you, you prat." She laughed. "Oh! I have so much to tell you!"

Harry put a finger over her full lips. "Can it wait till after dinner?" he asked. "I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm famished." He added seeing Hermione's pained look. When she had something to share, keeping her from doing so was like kicking a puppy. "Please?"

She sighed and looked at her watch, realizing it was almost dinner time. "Oh all right." She agreed. "Where do you want to go?"

"How about our little Italian bistro down the street?"

"You should have seen the look on his face when the chair turned into a coffee mug!" Harry said. "He just stood there and almost_let_ me stun him."

Harry was talking about his day to a rapt audience, as Hermione as always willing and interested to listen to Harry's stories. She nodded with wide eyes as Harry continued to tell her about the arrests of the Lestranges. "What about Bellatrix?" she asked.

"I'm getting there," Harry admonished playfully. "So, I then banished both Bella and the rest of the couch into the wall, stunned her and bound her. It was almost like she gave up. Either that or is completely barmy now, and forgot how to fight. Then I went over to check on Nev."

"Is he going to be ok?" Hermione asked worriedly having heard of her friends injuries.

Harry nodded with a solemn look on his face. "It looked worse that it was. The doctors at St. Mungo's said he simply got hit with a _diffindo_ curse and they patched him back together fine." He said. "They're keeping him overnight so the blood replenishing potion can take effect and he can go home tomorrow."

"You didn't have to leave him there to come meet me," Hermione said, concern for their friend bubbling up. "He needed someone there."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "He does have someone there. I was all but chased out by Ginny. She told me that she could take care of him and that I needed to get back to you." He said. "She really does take after her mother in that aspect." He gazed fondly at his fiancée who wanted to share her day so badly that she was bouncing up and down in her seat. "Ok, how was your day?"

Hermione straightened her posture and entered what Harry liked to call 'teaching mode', despite the happy grin on her face. It was a trait that Hermione had picked up while she was still in school and still carried two years out. He didn't mind at all, and it was one of the things that endeared her to him. "Well," Hermione began. "You know that book I received last year?" Harry nodded, recalling the anonymous gift Hermione received when she started her current project, and she continued. "Well, I finally managed to translate most of the second half of the book."

Harry smirked at her while she gesticulated wildly during her explanation. He knew this was good news. Any step closer to understanding the death of a loved one was good news in Harry's opinion.

"Well," Hermione went on, "It turns out that there are runes in the five stones near the top of the arch. They've just been faded over time, and all it took was the correct incantation to reactivate them. Now the book is a little hazy on this part, but I believe that the runes act as sort of a dimension address." At this point she pulled out a quill and began to draw diagrams on her napkin. "The only things I haven't been able to figure out are how to change the runes, or how the door knocker fits into all this."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Does the archway work?" he asked. "I mean, does it actually transit between dimensions at this point."

Hermione frowned while she thought. "I assume so but I honestly don't know." She said. She looked up at Harry almost apologetically. "I mean, Sirius had to go _some_where and all the objects I threw in didn't come out the other side."

"Can you show me?" Harry asked hopefully. As always, he and Hermione made a good team and he could see things that her logical mind simply glossed over.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Hermione exclaimed happily. Harry paid the bill and left a generous tip for their waitress and the two of them left the bistro, Hermione clinging happily to Harry's arm. As the two of them walked the short distance back to the ministry, they chatted about in consequential things, like how Ron was doing with the Cannons. It turned out that his goalkeeping skills were much of what they needed to begin to improve their record, and he was quite happy with his wife, Hannah. Hermione was also happy to tell Harry that she had finally achieved her animagus transformation. She was a bushy tailed fox, a nice complement to Harry's black furred wolf.

"I still feel incomplete though," he told his fiancée. "I mean, I can manage the wolf form, but I still feel like I'm missing something."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Well, one of the books I read that really helped me out mentioned that some exceptionally powerful wizards," she poked Harry in the chest for emphasis, "have both a mundane and a magical form." Harry frowned. The last thing he wanted was to have yet more abilities. Hermione noticed his look and squeezed his arm lovingly. "It's nothing that you have to go about advertising, love, but wouldn't it be fun to become a sphinx or a phoenix?"

Harry smiled down at her and pondered just how fun it would be to change into something like a dragon. The rest of the walk went in silence and before long the two of them arrived back in the Department of Mysteries. While Hermione went into her office to gather her notes and book from her desk, Harry went into the death chamber and stared impassively at the archway. The voices still whispered to him, calling to him of things beyond the veil, and he could still see his godfather falling through with an imploring look in his eyes. But for perhaps the first time ever, the memory didn't hurt. Now, with his finacee's help, there was hope that Sirius was off gallivanting in another world, pranking people there.

The voices and whispers however still bothered him. What were they, if not the voices of the dead? They were soothing, almost pleading Harry to jump beyond the curtain that floated lazily across the opening. "Harry?" Hermione said softly. "Are you okay?"

"I still hear the voices, 'Mione." He said just as softly. "Have you found out what they are?"

Hermione nodded and pulled out a sheet of parchment that she had covered in notes. "They seem to be excess temporal and dimensional energy that filters through other veils in other dimensions." She explained. "Now, I can't hear it, but according to the tome you can because…" she paused to scan the parchment. "Ah! Here it is. 'Those that can speak a magical or supernatural language may hear voices or whispers coming from the veil. This is normal, as the veil picks up energy from other dimensions and times and acts as a funnel of sorts.'" Hermione finished her explanation and looked up at Harry, whose face had fallen.

"Why can't I be normal in anything?" he said in monotone.

"I happen to love you just the way you are," Hermione said. She punctuated that statement with a kiss which ended that train of self-loathing. "Anyway," she went on, tapping the five stone blocks at the top of the arch with her wand. One rune began to glow red in the middle of each block. None of them made any sense to Harry. "These runes are supposed to be interchangeable, but I can't make hide nor hair of the translation of the book that covers it."

"Wait a second," Harry said. "Temporal? As in, time?"

"The book mentioned that some of the dimensions are staggered time wise." Hermione explained. "For instance, the next dimension over could be a year ahead of or behind us."

Harry just nodded. Hermione then revealed the bronze door knocker. It was shaped like a scorpion facing downward, its claws pointed at its head. The tail served as the knocker, as it curved over its body. "This floats when placed in the center of the archway," she said, demonstrating so. "This is as far as I've gotten."

Harry stared at the archway for a long while, but his focus kept landing on the scorpion shaped door knocker. He couldn't resist the urge to use it for its intended purpose. "Have you ever thought of knocking?" he asked Hermione.

"What?" she said. "Well…no."

Harry shrugged. "May I?" he asked. Hermione nodded. Harry wiped his hands on his trousers then reached almost reverently and knocked the tail of the scorpion three times. The brass on brass contact echoed loudly around the chamber but nothing else happened. He and Hermione looked at each other and Harry shrugged. "Well it was worth a try?" he said ruefully. But before Hermione could open her mouth to respond, the room began to rumble and shake. The wind that moved the black cloth of the veil began to blow harder and the veil began to whip about violently. The pearly white light in the archway began to intensify and before either of them could step away, Hermione was dragged suddenly and violently into the arch. It was a testament to Harry's reflexes that he was able to grab hold of her wrist before she was sucked completely through.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked while she maintained her death hold on his wrist. "Help!"

But try as he might, the veil was simply too powerful, and it slowly, inescapably dragged the two of them further and further in. Harry braced himself, one foot on either side of the arch way and grabbed Hermione's other wrist and held on for dear life, but the veil would not be denied and Harry finally lost his footing. He fell head first into the ether with a girlish scream.

Almost immediately, Harry was subjected to the mercies of the ether and the experience was far from pleasant. Harry felt like he was simultaneously being kissed by a dementor and kicked in the groin, followed by an ice cold sensation. He could feel his body compress, bones creaking and snapping and a feeling like he was in a trash compactor surrounding him. The pain was intense, more so than any_ cruciatis_ inflicted on him by Voldemort. "_We were wrong,_" he thought. "_It is a veil of death_."

Then there was a sudden shock, like the time he had stuck his finger into the electrical socket when he lived with the Dursleys. He remembered his uncle laughing maliciously at him as he writhed around on the ground in pain. Next came the feeling of belly flopping into a body of water, then being pulled under. Harry couldn't breathe, but felt oddly peaceful. He was grateful when he finally lost consciousness.

* * *

Holly Potter staggered glanced at her alarm clock with a bleary eye and noted the time; 8:30 am. Might as well get up, she thought, throwing her legs over edge of her bed. She yawned hugely and ran a hand through her long disheveled black hair and briefly wondered if she should take a shower now or later. Later, she decided heaving herself to her feet. She put on her dressing gown and staggered down the stairs. Holly Susanne Potter was the youngest child of James and Lily Potter. At thirteen years of age, she looked much like her mother but with her father's hair color and eyes, as well as James' mischievous tendencies.

When she reached the foot of the stairs, her nose was pleasantly assaulted by the smell of sizzling bacon. Her mum must be cooking breakfast. "Mornin' mum," Holly said as she walked into the kitchen. She pulled a chair from the table and plopped down heavily. "Dad at work yet?"

Lily glanced up from the stove with a smile for her daughter. "Morning sweetie," she chimed happily while flipping a strip of bacon. "You just missed him. He left about half an hour ago."

James Potter was an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and a damn good one. With his record of arrests, he was next in line to make head of the department and Lily couldn't be happier for his success. The Potters didn't need the money, but if James was happy, Lily was happy. Lily herself worked during the school year as the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. Initially, she took the job once Holly started her first year at the school as a way to keep an eye on her children, but in the two years Holly had finished, she had come to love the job and students. She tossed the loose plait her hair was done up in back over her shoulder and asked Holly, "Breakfast is almost ready. Why don't you run back upstairs and wake your brother."

Holly groaned. She hated waking her brother in the mornings. It was like trying to wake a rock. "Don't give me that young lady." Lily admonished. As Holly rose grumpily to her feet, Lily added playfully, "You can wake him any way you want."

Holly had made her reputation in her two years at Hogwarts as a prankster alongside her brother, Harry. She was never one to pass up a prank, even on her older sibling. Besides, she owed him one for the nasty prank he pulled the other night. She had finally managed to get it all out of her hair yesterday. Holly giggled as she ascended the stairs, her mind working quickly to come up with a suitable way to wake Harry. She finally settled on the old reliable glass of ice water to the face. Stopping by the bathroom, she filled a handy glass to the brim with cold tap water and snuck quietly toward her brother's room. Boy was he in for a surprise.

* * *

Harry groaned as a sliver of bright sunlight managed to find a hole in the curtains covering his window and nearly blinded him. He had had the most horrible dream. He was the boy-who-lived and had to kill Voldemort. Then, after Sirius died, he and his fiancée, Hermione researched the veil that killed Sirius only to be killed by it themselves. But…wait. It wasn't a dream. Harry awoke with a gasp as everything he had just gone through came flooding back to his sleep addled brain. He felt oddly comfortable after the horrible sensations he had just experienced. Pain like he had never experienced, even under a _crucio_ followed by comfort and warmth? "_What the hell was that?_" Harry thought to himself. He closed his eyes and thought hard on what happened. Judging by Hermione's reaction, whatever they just experienced was unexpected to say the least. Hopefully the afterlife wasn't too bad, he thought ruefully.

"_Oh well,_" he thought, rolling over and getting comfortable in his bed. "_It's over now._"

Wait a minute…bed? Harry nearly flew from the mattress and began to look around the unfamiliar room in a panic. The room wasn't very big, about ten by twelve feet, and was decorated how you would expect a young teenage boy's room to be decorated. The walls were adorned with various posters, both magical and muggle. The bed that Harry sprung from was located in the corner opposite and to the right of the door and opposite that was a dresser with a vanity mirror. On top of the dresser, were various photos; wizard, he thought based on how the moved. To the left of the dresser, along the same wall, was a small closet. Various articles of clothing were scattered about the room mixed in with school books and other things a teenage wizard might have. Harry's Auror trained mind kicked in and he began to assess the situation.

He was in an unfamiliar location dressed in…he looked down at himself and blushed. He was clad in only his boxers, sky blue ones with zooming snitches on them. "Alright then," he muttered to himself. "First things first; need my wand." Harry began to rummage around in the unfamiliar objects in the room for his wand. He became more and more frustrated with his lack of success as he failed to find it. He moved over to the dresser and paused when he noticed the photos more closely. They were pictures of him and…his parents.

Harry picked one of the pictures up and looked at it. It was a photo of one of his birthdays. Harry was sitting at a table, smiling, with a cake with eight candles sitting in front of him. His parents were standing behind him, his father patting him on the back and his mother glaring at Sirius as he tried discreetly to put a hand around her waist playfully. Sirius… Harry couldn't help but smile as he set the photo down and picked another up. This one was a professional family photo. James and Lily were in the back row, and Lily had her hands resting lightly on Harry's shoulders. James was mirroring Lily, but with a girl Harry had never seen before. She looked like a younger, female version of his father down to the eyes, but she had Lily's face and smile. "My sister?" he wondered. Once again, his mind began whirring. Where was he exactly?

It was then that Harry finally glanced in the mirror, and what he saw there made him gasp. He was young again! If he had to wager a guess, he was around fourteen years old, but what caught his breath in his throat was the scar on his forehead. Or, more specifically, the lack there of. The scar had been fading previously after Voldemort's death, but there had always been an uncomfortable tingle underneath it. Now, the scar was completely absent from his brow, and there was no tingle. Perhaps he really was dead. He pinched himself and winced with the pain. Definitely not a dream, he mused.

Then the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. His Auror trained senses told him that he was in danger, and he didn't have his wand yet. _If I were me,_ he thought_, where would I put my wand?_ His bedside table, of course. Harry went back across the table and rummaged through the candy wrappers and other detritus on the table. His wand wasn't there, but he succeeded in locating his glasses and put them on his face, sighing with relief as everything came clearer into focus. Now what?

Harry pondered for a second. He was still a little hazy on what was going on, but it was obvious now that this wasn't the afterlife. If it was, it was a pretty crappy one. He recalled what Hermione told him the other day._"The book mentioned that some of the dimensions are staggered time wise." Hermione explained. "For instance, the next dimension over could be a year ahead of or behind us."_ That would explain a bit. Hermione was right; the archway was a door to other dimensions, and the one he happened to be in was six years in the past. But that didn't explain why he was fourteen years old again. He really didn't want to go through school again, once had been enough.

Harry felt a momentary pang of loss at the thought of Hermione. What were the odds that she would end up in the same dimension? Oh well, he would cross that hurdle when reached it, but for now, he needed information. Who were his friends? What was his family like? What was HE like? He couldn't exactly tell anyone that he was from another dimension and time, lest he end up in St. Mungo's loony ward. First things first, though, he really needed his wand. The last two places he hadn't checked yet were his closet and his school trunk. Harry was pretty sure that he wouldn't be stupid enough to store his wand in his closet and so went to check the trunk first. Besides, looking through the trunk would give him a bit of insight on what he was like in this dimension.

He popped the latch on the battered trunk and gazed with disdain with the contents. Everything was in disarray; nothing was folded, the books were scattered about and an ink pot had spilled, spreading black ink over everything in the trunk. Harry sighed and began to sift though everything in there. He found a half full bag of dung bombs wrapped in what looked to be the marauder's map. Harry pulled that out with a smile and set it aside after cleaning it with a quick wandless charm. Then he went back to rummaging. He stopped and pulled out a school robe and noticed with dismay that embroidered on the back was a huge pink heart with the phrase, "I love Snivellus," written in red lettering in the heart. Ok, it seemed he was a bit of a prankster, and had been caught on the receiving end of pranks too. Then at last, Harry found his wand. It was covered in ink, but was in otherwise good condition. After cleaning it thoroughly, he gripped it lightly and the want spat emerald and crimson sparks from the end.

Harry then got his first good look at the wand. It wasn't the holly and phoenix feather wand that was so familiar to him, yet this wand felt almost better. Like an extension of his hand. He cast a standard identifying spell on the wand. It turned out that the wand was made of white birch with a dragon heartstring core. 'Interesting…'

Then with out warning, his bedroom door burst open and someone charged in, something glinting in their hand. Harry's reflexes took over and he whipped his wand around, firing a stunner before his brain registered what he had done. The person that charged in took the stunner straight to the chest and collapsed bonelessly, the glass they were carrying spilling its contents all over the floor. Harry cursed his jumpiness and went over to make sure that the person was alright. Harry toed the person over and cursed again. He had just stunned his sister. What a way to start things off, he thought wryly.

"_Ennervate. _Hey, are you alright?"

Holly's eyes snapped open when the revival spell hit her and she shot to her feet and scuttled away from Harry. She had no idea what had just happened. She remembered preparing to sneak into her brother's room with the intent of waking him up in the rudest way possible, then a flash of red light followed by unconsciousness. She glowered at her brother, standing there bemusedly with his wand in his hand and looking at her with concern in his green eyes. "Are you alright?" he tried again.

"You stunned me you jack ass!" she growled out, finally breaking from her stupor. She stomped over to him and cuffed him hard on the shoulder.

Harry rubbed his arm and glowered at the girl that was supposedly his sister. "Well, what did you think I would do?" he said. "You came storming in my room and caught me by surprise."

"Tackle me, throw a_ rictusempra_ at me, take the water from me and splash me with it! Anything but stun me!" Holly shouted exasperatedly. Then she turned her head and blushed. "Put your robe on."

Harry realized that he was standing half naked in front of his sister and flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry," he said. He rooted about in on the floor till he found a dressing gown and quickly put it on. "And I'm sorry for stunning you. I was just jumpy from a bad dream," he explained.

Holly looked at him weirdly. Harry almost never apologized. If he did something wrong, he acted properly cowed when he was chided for it. He wasn't arrogant by any stretch of the imagination, but he never apologized either. "Whatever," she said, waving off his apology. "Mum's making breakfast and wanted me to wake you."

"Mum?" Harry asked with his eyes full of hope. If his mother was alive here, he would have the chance to get to know her. A feeling of excitement ran through Harry with that thought, and he began to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet. He didn't notice Holly's confused look as he rushed out of his room. Harry paused once through the door, absolutely lost. It had just struck him that he had no clue where he was. Holly shouldered her way past him and headed toward the stairs.

"You coming?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harry said slowly. He wanted to look around before going to meet his Mum for the first time ever. "I just need to use the loo right quick."

Holly made a face. "I didn't need to know that," she snapped. Then she smiled. "If you don't hurry though, I won't leave you any bacon." And with that, she ran down the steps, making enough noise for a herd of hippogriffs.

Harry took the next few minutes poking about the upper floor of the house. He found what he thought was his sisters room and was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't as girly as he thought she would be. She was as much as a quidditch fan as he was but her room was still feminine enough to be a girl's room. Leaving quickly, lest he incur Holly's wrath by being there, he moved on and found his parents room. The first thing he noticed was the scent. He could smell clean linen, some perfume and a slight musky undertone. It brought back memories, however faint of his babyhood living in Godric's Hollow, and he had to quickly leave to stifle the tears. At last, he found the bathroom and, after relieving himself and washing his hands, quickly made his way down the stairs. Fortunately the stairs ended in the kitchen so he didn't have to stumble around the house and arouse any more suspicion.

What he saw there though nearly knocked the breath from his lungs. Standing at the stove, humming a soft lullaby while turning the bacon, was none other than Lily Potter. His mother. He stood in the landing for a few minutes with a gobsmacked expression on his face and simply watched her cook breakfast. She was a natural in the kitchen, it seemed, as she glided around the countertop. She had her long auburn hair pulled back into a loose plait and was wearing a frilly pink and white apron over a pair of grey lounge pants and a baggy white t-shirt. She looked very comfortable, but it in no way detracted from her beauty. She looked very good for a 35 year old woman.

Harry fought the lump in his throat as he stared. "Harry," Holly chimed in from the table. She was holding a piece of bacon loosely in her hand. "You're staring."

He glanced over at his sister and truly saw her since waking up that morning. She had his father's hair and eyes but her face and nose came entirely from Lily. She carried herself with a mischievous bearing that immediately put Harry on guard. She was a prankster, he was sure of it. "Oh, sorry," he muttered turning his attention back to his breakfast.

It was a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast but to Harry it was the best breakfast he had ever had. If just for the fact that it was the first he had eaten that was cooked by his mother, he would cherish this morning for the rest of the life. He reached for the salt shaker to lightly salt his eggs and gaped when the top of the shaker fell of and the entire thing was emptied on his plate. Well, he would have cherished this breakfast…

"I'm going to get you back for that," he told his giggling sister. "Mark my words…"

Lily had noticed the whole thing and scoffed at the antics. Harry noticed an amused smile on her face and smiled back as she cast a charm to remove the salt from the plate. Back to cherishing… Harry finished about half of his plate then drained his orange juice. "May I be excused?" he asked.

Lily blinked bemusedly. "Of course Harry, you don't need to ask."

"Oh," he said lamely. He glanced at his sister who was looking at him with a curious expression. Not sure what to make of it, he shrugged and gave his mother a brief hug before bounding back up the stairs to shower and dress for the day.

Lily smiled softly and sighed before starting in on her breakfast.

* * *

Once Harry had left the room, Holly began to pick at her eggs while she pondered her brother. Something about him had changed. She composed a mental list and began to fill it. Firstly, Harry had reacted to the prank this morning with a stunner. Normally, he would have simply vowed retaliation, like he had with the salt shaker. Secondly, Harry never asked to be excused from the table. Normally he just up and left after thanking their mother for a wonderful meal. Lastly, but not least, Harry gave their mother a hug. Harry never did that unless the two of them were alone. Holly vowed to keep a closer eye on her brother. Something just wasn't right.

As the day lazed on, Harry took it upon himself to explore the house and the environs. The place seemed vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The house was not overly large; about the size one would expect for a well to do family, and it was furnished rather comfortably. The furniture was well worn and comfortable, the library was full of books and the kitchen constantly smelled of baked goods. All in all, the house reminded Harry of a wealthier Burrow.

Harry eventually discovered the ward room. He found that the wards cast on the binding stone were strong, but nothing too hazardous. Harry still didn't know the background to this world, but he assumed by the type of wards the Potters used that there wasn't a rampaging dark lord.

It wasn't until Harry went to explore the grounds that he realized where he was. He was at the Potter's house in the village of Godric's Hollow. Harry was floored. When Voldemort had attacked him and his family on the other side of the veil, the magical eruption from the dark wizard after the killing curse rebounded destroyed the home and rendered it uninhabitable. Harry never had the chance to see it, but he was satisfied with what was here. He was glad that he had been given the chance to see it.

Harry spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the grounds and exploring the extent of the wards. The house was set on the outskirts of the village on a rather expansive plot of land and had a lush garden behind the house that was maintained by the family's house elves. Behind the garden was a large open field that was covered by the wards. Harry was happy to note that they had a place to fly without disturbing the muggles.

Harry eventually found himself in the garden, lounging on the soft grass in the sun. He felt he could get used to this. He lived in a nice house, had a loving family and a chance at a real childhood. The only thing missing was Hermione. Worry for her was constantly plaguing his thoughts. He remembered very distinctly Hermione being wrenched from his grasp as the forces inside the veil shunted him to what ever dimension he was in now. He only hoped that Hermione was here too.

The sun felt comfortable on Harry's face and just as he was about to doze off he felt someone plop down on the grass next to him. "Hey…" he greeted, opening his eyes. He looked up at his sister…er… He had already forgotten her name. _Dammit_, he swore mentally.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Holly said. She leaned back and propped herself up on her elbows, enjoying the sun too. The two of them sat in companionable silence for a while before Holly spoke. "So Mum told me that uncle Sirius is coming over for dinner."

She looked down at him, waiting for his answer. "Sirius?" Harry asked, cracking his eyes open. His heart nearly stopped beating at his godfather's name. Holly nodded. "Good. It'll be nice to see him again," he finished vaguely.

Holly frowned, but Harry didn't see it. He had already closed his eyes again. "I'll bet you're looking forward to seeing Michelle again," she needled.

"It'll be nice to see her too," Harry said. He had no idea who Michelle was so he played it as nonchalantly as possible. Holly frowned again and pushed a little bit more.

"You're not worried about her drooling all over you?"

"No," Harry said. "Why? Should I be?"

Holly realized that it was a stupid question to gauge Harry's reactions from. She had forgotten that he was completely unaware of Michelle's huge crush on him. As far as she knew, Harry just thought the blonde girl was weird. She smirked inwardly at the theatrics that would be happening tonight, but then moved on. "Have you picked what classes you're going to take this year?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Haven't given it much thought," he replied. Indeed he hadn't. He had no clue what classes this dimensions Harry really took and he didn't want to give anything away by showing that he didn't know. "I figure that I still have most of the summer to decide."

Holly sighed inwardly. Dammit, she swore. Harry wasn't giving anything up. Perhaps she was being paranoid. Maybe Harry was simply growing up. People change. Still, she was getting fed up with his non-answers and got to her feet in a huff. She wanted to be angry at something and Harry was laying there, a prime target. "Prat," she growled and she stalked away toward the broom shed.

Harry blinked bemusedly. "What did I do?" he asked Holly's retreating figure. When she didn't answer him he got up to follow her. "Hey!" he called. "Talk to me."

Holly pulled a broom out of the shed and took off into the sky, doing loops and corkscrews as she rose. Harry noticed that she was a damn good flier and entered the shed. The shed was small but well stocked. Against the far wall, opposite the door was a shelf with a set of quidditch balls on it. On the wall to the right was the broom rack. Harry noted that, while there were no Firebolts, there were four Nimbus 2001s. Harry grabbed one and appraised it. It was well polished and the bristles were trimmed nicely. Harry took the broom out and without a second thought, rocketed into the sky after his sister.

He pulled to a stop next to Holly, who was looking at her brother like he had grown a second head. She had nearly convinced herself that Harry was simply changing then he went and pulled this stunt.

"What?" He asked. "Can't I go flying with my sister?"

"But, Harry you hate flying," Holly said cautiously.

"Uh," Harry began lamely. "First time for everything, right?"

Holly just shook her head and flew off, Harry close on her tail. She glanced back at him and noted angrily that he was following her. "What?" she growled.

"Are you going to tell me what I did?" he asked. Holly sped off. "Guess not…" he said, following on his sister's tail.

Holly led Harry through a series of dives, loops and twists through the field and around the sparse trees behind their house and was growing increasingly frustrated with his performance. First he takes to the sky like he was born on a broom, then he flies like an expert! She smiled ferally back at her brother. "See if you can follow me!" she challenged. And with that, she rocketed off.

Harry was never one to back down from a challenge and pushed his broom to its limit. Holly led him on a series of twists, loops, and spirals and was becoming more and more desperate to shake him off. Finally, she soared up higher and higher into the sky. She was absolutely certain that he wouldn't be able to follow her into the next maneuver. Once she peaked, she inverted and sped toward the ground. She was going to try and plough Harry with a Wronski feint. Waiting till the last minute she pulled up hard on the handle and skimmed the ground, mere feet from the gorse. She glanced back and nearly fell off her broom.

Not only had Harry pulled off the feint, but he had done it _better_ than she did. He was skimming _through_ the weeds and even more, he had a cheeky grin on his face. Holly led her brother back toward the broom shed and landed.

"That was a blast!" Harry cheered.

Holly slugged his shoulder after putting her broom away. "Prat…" she growled again. She stalked off, leaving a completely bemused Harry standing in the shadow of the shed. She would find out what was going on.

* * *

Harry sat on the couch in what he had dubbed the 'Muggle Room' rubbing his bruised shoulder. He called it the muggle room because his mother had purchased as many top of the line electronics as she could find and placed them in one room that had been warded against magic. The room had everything from a big screen projection television to a DVD player and Playstation. Harry decided from the moment he had discovered this room that it was his new favorite. He would spend as much time in here as he could since he never had the chance to play with muggle technology when he was growing up with the Dursleys. His family be damned if it wasn't how he acted before. It was what he wanted.

Speaking of his family, he believed that Holly suspected him of something. She had spent most of the day questioning Harry on things that she assumed he knew. Harry was never good at lying but he was good at giving non-answers and half-truths. He wasn't sure if Holly was accepting this, but he was sure it was driving her barmy. She slugged him in the shoulder every time she grew frustrated with him and now his shoulder really hurt. He was sure he was going to have a nice purple bruise come the morning.

He was currently absorbed in a muggle show called 'Braniac' that did strange experiments, like dropping a lorry full of milk and wondering if it made a louder crash and a falling piano. Harry actually enjoyed the show. His attention was pulled away from the show when Holly screamed, "Daddy!" and rushed past the muggle room.

A sense of anticipation fell over Harry like a wet blanket. His father was home and Harry was overcome with the urge to meet him; for the very first time. Harry tentatively stepped into the hall where James Potter was currently giving Holly a noogie. Holly screeched and writhed in his grip and Harry couldn't hide his smile. Everyone was right; he really did look like a miniature version of his father. The only real difference was the color of his eyes.

James let his daughter go and adopted a very serious expression. He pointed directly at Harry and said, "Wipe that smile off of your face young man. It's your turn next."

Harry wouldn't have fought him off even if he wanted to. For the first time in his life, Harry had his father's arms around him and despite the noogie, it still felt good. Harry laughed and twisted out of his fathers grip. He grabbed the bigger man in a headlock and proceeded to give James a noogie in return. Somewhere deep down inside, a voice was telling Harry that these people weren't really his family. It was telling him that he had stolen them from some other Harry. He told the voice to stuff it and enjoyed his father's company.

"Hey! No fair!" James whined. Harry scurried off to stand next to his sister, both of them adopting innocent expressions. "You two just wait till Sirius gets over. You're going to be hurting."

The three of them laughed and Lily came into the foyer. "I suppose you already heard then?" she asked. James nodded. Both he and Sirius worked as Aurors and were damn good at their jobs. James was head Auror and Sirius was his second in command. "We'll, Sirius and his family will be here in about an hour. I have a roast in the oven."

For the second time that day, Harry's breath caught in his throat. He didn't want to hold out hope that the Sirius in this dimension was _his_ Sirius, but he couldn't help but hope anyway.

"Why don't the two of you go find something to do," James told the children. Holly adopted a disgusted expression and Harry had a pretty good idea as to what was coming. He really didn't want to bear witness to his parents having a snogging session so he followed his sister up the stairs.

As he reached the top, he heard his father's voice float up toward him. "So, this morning, the DOM reported a huge energy spike near here…" Harry gulped. Looks like his entrance didn't go unnoticed.

Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from Sirius at dinner. He had never seen his godfather looking so happy and healthy and it made him happy. He was pretty sure that this Sirius wasn't his, but either way, he was glad to have the Marauder back.

Sirius was talking animatedly about something with James, most likely a prank he had pulled on his coworkers, so Harry turned his attention to the rest of the blacks.

Michelle Black was a good looking, if young girl. She had blonde hair and Sirius' piercing blue eyes, and she blushed prettily every time Harry looked at her. Honestly, Michelle reminded Harry of a prettier Ginny with the way she held her crush on Harry. So far, she hadn't said anything during dinner, but Harry caught her making eyes at him on more than one occasion; It honestly creeped him out.

Now he knew what Holly was trying to needle him about in the garden earlier. He believed that the previous Harry was bothered by the crush as much as he was…either that or he was oblivious.

Harry turned his attention to Amanda, Sirius' wife. It blew him away when he found out about her. Never in his wildest dreams did he believe that Sirius would settle down. In any dimension. But settle he did and Harry had to admit that Amanda was quite the catch. Michelle shared her hair: long luxurious golden locks that curled slightly at the end. Amanda had pretty yellow eyes and honestly reminded Harry a bit of Luna Lovegood. Amanda caught Harry staring and winked saucily at him. Harry blushed.

"You feel all right, kiddo?" Sirius asked Harry. "You look a little distant."

Holly muttered something under her breath that sounded like, 'That's what I want to know."

Harry spared her a weak glare before addressing his godfather. "I'm fine," he said. Sirius' brow furrowed slightly before he went back to talking with James about the surprise. Harry was pretty sure he was referring to the Quidditch World Cup. He immediately decided to make a bet on it and bet everything the other Harry had saved up. If the game went anything like it had before, Harry stood to make a fortune.

Harry zoned out and picked at his dinner while he pondered what he was going to do here in this dimension. He figured the best course of action to be waiting until he could get back to Hogwarts and research anything and everything he could about dimension travel. While he did feel comfortable here, there was an underlying agitation that he couldn't place his finger on. Perhaps it was that he felt he was stealing a family, but Harry wanted a contingency plan in case an emergency arose. He was pulled out of his musing once again by Sirius.

"C'mon, Prongslet," he said, scooting away from the table. "You look like you need to talk with someone."

James looked at Sirius a bit lost but Sirius shook his head as if to say, 'I've got this one.'

Harry pushed away from the table and reluctantly followed Sirius up to his room. "So," Sirius began when they reached Harry's bedroom. "What's on your mind?" Harry looked at his godfather a bit apprehensively. How was he supposed to tell this man that he was dead in a different dimension and it was indirectly Harry's fault? Harry looked at the floor and scuffed the toe of his trainer on the carpet. "Did I do something?" Sirius prompted.

Harry decided to go with a version of the truth. He would tell Sirius about what happened but he would claim it was a dream. That was the best course of action, he told himself. "So, I had this dream where I was convinced to go to this…laboratory, right?" Sirius nodded and Harry continued. "I believed that you were being tortured there and I felt that I just couldn't let you suffer so me and some of my friends left to go rescue you."

Harry didn't notice the color drain from Sirius' face and he continued. "When we got there we discovered that it was a trap set up by a dark wizard. There was a big fight and you were killed and…" Harry stopped when he heard a strangled gasp from his godfather. "Are you okay, Sirius," he asked, finally noticing his godfather's condition.

There was a long pause where Sirius seemed to be thinking really hard before Sirius whispered, "Harry?"

Harry blinked in shock. It couldn't be… "Sirius?"

Suddenly a huge grin broke out over the older man's face. "Harry!" he shouted.

"Sirius!" Harry responded, wrapping Sirius in a bone crunching hug. They simply embraced each other for a good five minutes before Sirius pushed Harry away roughly.

"You willingly jumped through the veil!?"

Harry found the carpet very interesting once again. "Well, maybe not willingly…"

Sirius looked at Harry expectantly and Harry launched into his tale of how he came to end up in this dimension. Sirius couldn't help but needle him a bit about Harry and Hermione's relationships but listened patiently while Harry told his story. Sirius seemed rather interested in just how he and Hermione became an item so Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and patted the spot next to him. "Maybe I ought to tell you everything from when you died till the other day?"

Sirius sat down next to him and nodded like an eager child. Harry began to tell Sirius a slightly abridged tale of everything from that evening in the Department of Mysteries and finishing with Harry's own ungraceful dive into the veil of death. Harry seemed to stumble over everything having to do with the final battle so Sirius changed the subject. He wanted to know all about Harry's animagus form.

"You're an animagus?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "What's your form?"

"I'll do one better and show you," Harry said. Then he paused as a worried look came over his face.

"I still have my dog form, if that's what you're wondering," Sirius reassured him. It was indeed what Harry was worried about, and Harry smiled happily before changing into a shaggy black wolf. The wolf was a bit younger looking than it had been before the veil, but that was understandable. He was in a younger body now.

The look on Sirius' face was priceless. He looked like a kid in a candy store as he morphed into his grim form. The two animagi romped around in Harry's room for a few wonderful minutes before changing back. "Merlin, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. "I never in my wildest dreams thought that you'd have a canine form! I thought you'd be a stag like your father."

Harry shrugged. "So did me and Hermione. She turns into a fox…turned…" Harry trailed off, staring at his hands and Sirius put a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"I'm sure where ever she is that she's fine," he said comfortingly. Harry scrubbed his eyes and smiled up at his godfather gratefully.

"Thanks, Sirius," he said. "Anyway, tell me about your time here. I can't believe that you got married!"

Sirius laughed his bark-like laugh; Merlin how Harry had missed that. "Neither could I," Sirius said. "But I'm glad the me from before did get married to Amanda. She's a wonderful woman and Michelle is a beautiful daughter."

Harry smiled at the wistful look that came over Sirius' face. "So? Talk. Tell me how you two met. What's different here than on the other side?"

Sirius cleared his throat and prepared for a long story. "Well, back in our dimension, I originally met her in my sixth year at Hogwarts. She was in Hufflepuff."

Harry was always fascinated to hear stories of the Marauders in school and listened with rapt attention. "Hufflepuff?" he chimed in. "She actually reminds me of Luna."

"That creepy girl that went with you to the DOM?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded and Sirius looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I suppose she does. I think she's a bit of a seer. Anyway, it was lust at first sight. She was, _is_ hot! I wanted to date her so I approached her one day at lunch and asked her to go to Hogsmeade with me." Sirius laughed. "I was all set for rejection. The only example I had to go off of was your father. Normally girls would approach me so I didn't know how exactly to go about wooing Amanda. So I walked up to her and said, 'Hey, want to go with me to Hogsmeade?' I was completely floored when she answered, 'It's about time.'"

Harry laughed. "So what happened then?"

Sirius' eyes dimmed a bit and his mood became somber. "Well, we had our date and the lust became love. When we said our goodbyes at the end of the year, it was the last time we saw each other. Her entire family was killed by Voldemort over the summer…"

This time it was Harry's turn to comfort his godfather. "Well, you have her now. And she's given you a daughter that you've had six years to get to know."

Sirius smiled at that. "Anyway, let's see…what's different over here," he murmured. "Well, obviously Prongs and Lily are still alive and they had another kid. I'm married and have a kid," Sirius' eyes sparkled. "OH! You might be happy to note that you're not the boy-who-lived."

"I've noticed. So who is, if there is one?"

Sirius went on. "It's actually Neville," he explained.

"Neville?" Harry choked out. "Neville Longbottom?" Sirius nodded.

"I guess that the roles were reversed here. Voldemort attacked the Longbottoms first. Alice and Frank were killed and Neville rebounded the killing curse." Sirius said. "The difference was, when Crouch and my twisted cousin and her in-laws came here looking for info, Moony and I were visiting and were able to fend them off and arrest them."

"Wormtail?"

"Still a traitor," Sirius explained. "Your parents managed to convince the Longbottoms not to use old lady Longbottom for their secret keeper and instead use Peter. You know the rest." Harry nodded. "Oh, and since I was never sent to Azkaban I made to second in command of the Auror corp."

Harry couldn't handle that news and broke down into hearty guffaws. "You?" he gasped between laughs. "In a position of authority? Hell _has_ frozen over."

Sirius was about to snap some sarcastic comment at Harry when the boy suddenly stopped laughing and held up his hand in the Auror signal for silence. Sirius immediately clammed up. "What?" he whispered.

Harry snuck over to the door and counted down from three with his fingers. When the last finger dropped, he wrenched the door open and immediately sighed when Holly tumbled into the room. She looked at them both with and expression of fear and scooted back into the corner of the room.

"Wonderful…" Harry groaned.


	2. Getting to know you

Holly sat at the table and watched Uncle Sirius lead her brother up the stairs. Her brother was acting strange, more so than he usually did, and Sirius had picked up on it. She rehashed the small list she had composed in her head; the retaliation for the attempted prank, the sudden affection for their parents, and his skill on a broom. Just yesterday, Harry was the same old brother that she had grown up with. She knew that if she went to someone with it, she would get the standard, 'People change,' reaction. She knew people changed, but they didn't over night. Unless they were doppelgangers!

Holly recalled her private lessons with Uncle Remus when she was younger. Remus had always had a flair for defense so most of her studies had been in that field. Since she couldn't use any magic, Remus had tutored her in dark creatures and the theory behind defense. She remembered the day she had studied doppelgangers and mimics. She had nightmares for weeks and wouldn't go near any trunk or chest for months after that. Doppelgangers hadn't frightened her as much, if only because they were rare. But what if one had taken over her brother? Sirius was in danger!

She glanced at the clock and realized that her 'brother' and Sirius had been upstairs for twenty minutes now. The doppelganger was most likely creating a body for the fake Sirius while the real Sirius was suffering in some pod. Holly's imagination immediately conjured up an image of Sirius being eaten by a venus flytrap while a fake Sirius and Harry stood by and laughed at him. She looked over at her parents who were blissfully unaware of the plight going on upstairs. It would be up to her.

Excusing herself from the table, Holly quietly made her way upstairs and snuck to her brother's bedroom door. She didn't hear any screaming coming from it, but then she didn't really expect to. What kind of doppelganger would alert an entire house to its presence by letting the victim scream? Still she wanted to know what she was going to run into so she pressed her ear against the door.

"You're an animagus?" She heard Sirius ask. "What's your form?"

Holly blinked then sighed with relief. So it was only that Harry was an animagus. Still, she was curious what he was so she continued to listen in.

"I'll do one better and show you," Harry said. Jerk, Holly thought. She wanted to hear what he was. Harry was silent for a moment and Holly wondered if Harry turned into some sort of bug. Then Sirius spoke up.

"I still have my dog form, if that's what you're wondering," Sirius said in a reassuring voice. Holly heard a muffled pop followed by a second one. There were some muffled thumps and crashes and Holly's mind immediately reformed the doppelganger theory. Perhaps Harry simply deceived Sirius and showed his true form. But then Sirius spoke up. "Merlin, Harry!" he exclaimed. "I never in my wildest dreams thought that you'd have a canine form! I thought you'd be a stag like your father."

So he's some sort of dog, Holly realized, abandoning the doppelganger again.

Harry continued. "So did me and Hermione. She turns into a fox…turned…" Harry trailed off morosely and Holly wondered who this Hermione girl was. She had never met her, but then again, Harry never included Holly in anything unless it was a combined prank.

"I'm sure where ever she is that she's fine," Holly heard Sirius say. Something had happened to Hermione.

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry said. "Anyway, tell me about your time here. I can't believe that you got married!"

This confused Holly more than anything else that had happened in the past day. Why was Harry treating Sirius like an old friend? Sure, the two of them would occasionally prank each other and worth together to get other people, but they never spoke like that! And why couldn't Harry believe that Uncle Sirius had gotten married to Amanda? Harry had known all his life that Sirius and Amanda were married.

Sirius laughed. "Neither could I," he said. Holly choked. Was Sirius playing along? "But I'm glad the me from before did get married to Amanda. She's a wonderful woman and Michelle is a beautiful daughter."

Holly recoiled from the door in shock. _The me from before_? What the hell did Sirius mean by that? The pieces of the puzzle began to fit in Holly's mind. DoppleHarry wasn't converting Sirius. He already had and the two were meeting up here. Then again, she didn't know that doppelgangers could mimic animagus forms. Holly knew she needed to get her parents, but she placed her ear against the door to get a bit more information before she ran back down stairs. She mentally cursed herself when she realized that she had missed part of their conversation.

This time Harry spoke in a comforting voice. "Well, you have her now. And she's given you a daughter that you've had six years to get to know."

SIX YEARS!? Sirius converted HARRY! Holly's mind froze in panic and by the time she had recovered herself and decided to run for her life, the door had suddenly opened. Unfortunately for her, her ear was still pressed against it and she toppled into the room.

"Wonderful…" Harry groaned as Holly scooted as far away from her 'family' as possible. Unfortunately it took her into a corner and she stared at Harry and Sirius in fear.

"I knew it!" Holly exclaimed when she found her voice. "You're both doppelgangers!"

Harry massaged his temples to ward off the impending headache. He stared at his sister blankly for a few seconds before turning to Sirius. "I forgot her name again…" he muttered embarrassedly.

Sirius barked his laugh. "Holly." Holly glowered at Sirius.

Harry turned back to his sister. "Holly, I'm not a doppelganger," he said slowly, ignoring Holly's murderous look. He imagined that forgetting his sister's name wasn't helping his case much. "Okay, look. I solemnly swear on my magic that I am Harry James Potter."

Harry's wand glowed slightly, confirming the oath, and Holly looked more convinced. She looked over at Sirius, silently demanding that he do the same. After Sirius did so she relaxed a bit more but still looked wary. "Explain," she demanded. "If you're not doppelgangers then what are you?"

Harry glanced at Sirius who simply shrugged helplessly. Harry muttered something about stupid mutts under his breath before addressing his sister. "I… I guess you could call us dimensional travelers," he said. Holly's face blanked as she tried to process this information. Harry, seeing that she didn't understand tried to simplify. "I am Harry Potter and he is Sirius Black. Where we come from, everything is different. One day, six years ago, Sirius fell through a dimensional…gateway if you will. I followed after him."

Holly still looked skeptical and glanced up at Sirius for confirmation. Sirius simply nodded and motioned back to Harry. "So," she said slowly. "What's different?" She decided to humor the two of them till she could get help. Their oaths may have been binding if cast by wizards but no one truly knew the power of a doppelganger.

Harry seemed to think. He was silent for a moment before asking, "You know who the boy-who-lived is right?" Holly nodded. "Where I come from, _I'm_ the boy-who-lived."

Holly's face went completely neutral as she processed this information. Of all the stories she had expected, that had not been one of them. It was so far fetched that she was tempted to believe it. Holly knew what happened to Neville. The poor boy was without parents. No one deserved that, even if he was a ponce. She looked at 'Harry' questioningly. "So, if you were the boy-who-lived, did that mean that Mum and Dad…died?"

Harry nodded sadly. "How do I know you're not lying about that?" Holly asked suspiciously. Harry sighed. The girl was worse than Mad-eye.

"What can the boy-who-lived do that no one else can?" Harry asked.

Holly seemed to ponder this for a while before answering. "Last year he revealed that he could speak to snakes."

Harry smiled and looked back at Sirius who had been watching he exchange amusedly. Harry swished his wand and murmured, "_Serpensortia._" A small common green garden snake spilled from the tip of his wand.

The snake looked questioningly at Harry and hissed. "_What is your bidding, master?_"

Harry hissed back and heard Holly's sharp intake of breath. "_Go to my sister and drape yourself gently over her shoulders,_" he commanded. He made sure not to gesture so Holly would find it more believable. The snake slithered over to the gaping girl and did just that; it draped itself over her shoulders and flicked its tongue against her cheek.

"Ok," she said, conceding that Harry may be from another reality. "Let's say I believe you." Harry's meager legillimency skills told him that Holly really did believe him. She was also a bit of a closet boy-who-lived fanatic. "What about him?" she asked, pointing at Sirius. "He's been here for six years posing as the real Sirius."

Sirius shrugged. "Amanda knows," he said simply. It effectively shut Holly up. She began to stroke the snake's head absentmindedly while she thought. It was a lot to take in, and she wasn't sure, despite what proof she had that Sirius and Harry were who they claimed to be. Still, over the past six years, Sirius had only been kind to her. Now that she thought about it, six years ago, something had happened to Uncle Sirius and he had become much more fun to be around. Her dad had even commented that Sirius was more like the kid he had grown up with. And if Aunt Amanda could believe Sirius, so could Holly. As for Harry, it didn't seem like he had changed for the worse. If anything, a kinder, more loving brother would be welcomed. She could however do without the stunning.

"Ok," Holly eventually said at length, and she stopped petting the snake who hissed in disappointment. She interrupted the two males in the room who seemed to be having a contest as to whose wand was thicker. "I believe you." Harry looked relieved while Sirius just looked pleased. "But I still think you should tell Mum and Dad."

"No," Harry said simply. "I want them to find out when I am ready for it. I wasn't ready for you to find out."

"I think we should _obliviate_ her," Sirius chimed in. Holly's eyes widened almost comically.

"No!" Harry snarled. "I may not have known her for very long, but Holly's still family. No _obliviating_ family."

Holly was immediately relieved and her trust of the new Harry went up a notch. Then Harry said, "But I do want you to make a wizards oath."

"I don't have my wand," Holly said. She knew it was a feeble excuse since she could use any wand to make an oath. As if proving that point, Harry handed her his wand. Holly sighed and made her oath. "I, Holly Susanne Potter, hereby swear that I will tell no one of Harry Potter or Sirius Black's real identity unless it is life threatening or they give me permission." Harry smiled proudly at his sister for making such a complete oath as the magic swirled gently around her.

Holly began petting the snake again as she handed Harry his wand back. "What should I do about the snake?" she asked.

"Keep her," Harry said simply. The grin that lit up Holly's face made Harry's day. "She's permanent unless I dispel her and if you want her I won't.

"Thank you!" Holly cried. Harry had never given her anything willingly and even she had to admit that the foot and a half long snake was adorable. She debated giving Harry a hug but the idea fizzled as Harry slumped to the ground with a scream. Sirius immediately cast a silencing charm on the room and dropped next to Harry, who was writhing on the ground and clutching his forehead.

"What's going on?" Holly asked worriedly.

Sirius looked more somber than Holly had ever seen him. "Voldemort…"

* * *

Neville Longbottom sprawled lazily in the plush recliner. He was bored and the coffee table in front of the recliner showed it. It bore the failed and repeated attempts at numerous transfiguration and charms spells that Neville had inflicted on it. Neville didn't care about the table; his Gran would repair it like she always did.

Neville had lived with his Grandmother ever since that fateful night in 1981 when his parents had been killed protecting him. Neville had survived the killing curse, and one cast by Voldemort no less! No one in recorded history had managed that feat and Neville was proud that he could lay claim to it. Sure, even he would admit that he was a bit stuck up, but he deserved to be. He was the boy-who-lived. No one else, beyond maybe that fool Lockhart had to deal with the jokers who worked for the press as much as he did. Speaking of whom…

Neville glanced at the clock and realized that his scheduled press conference would begin in less than twenty minutes. Neville hated the press but he felt it was his duty to tell the public what they wanted to hear. Usually the press conferences would start with Neville giving a greeting, followed by him taking questions, and then reassuring the public that everything was alright. Honestly it was the worst part of being the boy-who-lived.

Gazing forlornly at the fireplace, Neville decided that he would invite his best mate, Ron Weasley over after he was done dealing with the Prophet's goons. Before long it was time to meet with the press and Neville straightened his robes out and made his way out to the entry gate to Longbottom Manor. Sure enough, the throng was already battering at the gate, so to speak but Neville was happy to note that his Gran was keeping them in check. Neville stepped up to the gates and they opened, but wards kept the reporters on the other side.

Neville cleared his throat and the group quieted. "Welcome to you all," Neville began. "This will be like before, and I'm sure you all know the drill. So, raise your hands and I'll call on you."

Immediately everyone's hands went up and Neville suppressed a sigh. Every time… He called on a middle aged witch near the back first. "Jennifer LeClere, Witch Weekly," she introduced herself. "My question is; what is being done to safeguard the students this year with the special event taking place?"

Neville nodded, acknowledging the question and then answered. "Well, I'm sure that me being there will be safeguard enough, but as I don't know the first thing about what is going on at Hogwarts this year, I can't answer that." There was some furious scribbling before their hands shot up again. Neville called on a witch that was using an acid green quill and had her blonde hair in tight curls.

"Rita Skeeter, special correspondent for the Daily Prophet," she said. Neville's toes curled at the sound of her voice. He knew this wouldn't be good. "Would you say that you-know-who will attempt to sabotage the event at Hogwarts in an attempt to regain his power?"

Neville always hated this line of questioning. It always dissolved into what he would be doing about you-know-who. "Seeing as he-who-must-not-be-named is nothing more than the merest squib, I don't think we have much to worry about," he all but growled.

Rita piped up again before he could call on someone else. "But seeing as it was your fault he regained his body in the first place, wouldn't you be saying that just to cover your own tracks?"

Neville saw red and his Grandmother noticed that Neville was agitated. "I'm done with you all," he spat before whirling around and stalking back to the manor. The reporters all shouted their last questions but Neville ignored them and walked next to his Gran. She looked down at her grandson.

"Neville, dear, will you be all right?" she asked.

"Yes, Gran," he sighed. "I just get so tired of them."

"Why don't you floo Ronald and invite him over. I'll make you two an early lunch," Augusta offered. Neville nodded.

"I was planning on doing that anyway," he said.

Once they re-entered the manor, his Gran went into the kitchen to order lunch from the elves and Neville tossed a pinch of floo powder into the fire place. "Ron Weasley," he called out. In a moment Ron's head appeared in the flames.

"Hey, mate!" Ron greeted. "What's going on?"

"Gran invited you over for lunch, if you want to."

Ron pulled his head out of the fire, most likely to ask his mother and then stepped through after a moment. Ron never was one to turn down free food. The two of them went into the dining room and at a lunch of sandwiches and chips before heading outside to do some flying. As they went out their conversation turned to the up coming school year. "So," Ron asked. "Did you sign up for divination?"

"Of course!" Neville exclaimed. "Easy 'O'…duh."

Ron laughed. And moved the subject on to something else they both enjoyed…bashing Potter. "I can't wait till Potter sees what me and my brothers have planned for him this year," he sneered. The two of them had been on the receiving end of Harry Potter's pranks so many times that they had finally become used to it.

Neville looked at Ron warily. "Which brothers? The twins?" he asked. Ron nodded. "Aren't they Potter's friends?"

Ron shrugged uncaringly. "They'll prank anyone, even their friends," he said.

They had finally reached the broom shed and Neville was about to respond when his eyes glazed and he keeled over, the lightning bolt scar on his forehead spouting blood.

* * *

When Harry finally came to, he was in a very familiar room. It was lavishly decorated in Slytherin colors and a warm fire crackled in the fireplace grate. There was a high wing backed chair with its back facing him that Harry assumed had someone sitting in it. The green shades had been pulled over the window and only a sliver of light made it through the gaps. Harry knew where he was. It was the room at Riddle manor that Harry had first witnessed on his first summer between third and fourth years.

Harry glanced around the room, knowing that the vision could be very important. He noticed that besides the man in the chair, who had dark brown hair, there was another person in the room. Harry recognized the man. How could he not, when the same person betrayed his parents and Sirius and helped resurrect Voldemort? It was Wormtail. Harry felt his hackles rise. The first thing he would do while here was capture and perhaps kill the rat.

"Did our 'guests' inform you as to when they would be arriving, Wormtail?" came a hissing, high pitched voice from the wing backed chair. Harry felt a chill run down his spine. The voice was unmistakable as that of Voldemort. Harry guessed that the man in the chair was holding the Dark Lord's emaciated infant like form.

Wormtail cowered from the chair. "They said they would arrive tonight, my Lord," Wormtail simpered. Harry noticed that he looked almost identical to the Wormtail he knew, right down to the bald spot and small watery eyes.

"Did he not give a time?"

Wormtail shook his head. "I'm sorry, my Lord, they did not."

The man in the chair stood up and Harry was confused to note that he wasn't carrying anything. He began to pace back and forth in front of the fire with his hands clasped behind his back. "What did I tell you about apologizing for other's mistakes?" the man hissed. Harry would have gasped in shock if he had been able to. The man sitting in the chair was none other than Voldemort. How was it possible that he had his body back? Harry noticed that Voldemort looked very much like an older Tom Riddle from the diary. It made sense. Perhaps he had never lost his body. Maybe he found another way to get it back. Harry decided to ask about it as soon as he could get out of this blasted vision.

"D-don't?" Wormtail stuttered.

Voldemort smiled viciously. "Exactly, Wormtail. Don't. I may not have use of my magic anymore, but I can still make you suffer."

Wormtail's only response was panicked gibbering while Harry reeled with that information. Voldemort may have had his body back, but he didn't have any magic. Harry wondered how that would change the tournament this year, if there even was one. Voldemort took his seat again and didn't acknowledge Pettigrew again while Harry pondered his next course of action. He knew that since his sister and Sirius both knew that he was from another dimension; he could ask them for information. Indeed he planned on it as soon as he was back in his room.

He needed to first and foremost find out if the ministry planned on hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament this year. If so, that would answer all his questions about whether or not Voldemort had any plans with it. His reverie was broken by the sound of someone knocking at the door to the room.

"Well?" Voldemort hissed at Wormtail when the sniveling man made no move. "Answer it!"

Wormtail scampered over out of view and Harry heard the door open. He tried to turn his head and was instantly frustrated to find out that he couldn't. He was stuck looking at that damnable chair and fireplace. He heard Voldemort welcome the men at the same time he threatened them with painful death. Harry was amazed that someone could do that. Voldemort lead the two men back to the fireplace. The first one Harry recognized. It was none other then Barty Crouch Jr. The other man stayed well out of Harry's field of vision and Harry once again cursed. He hoped that he recognized the man's voice.

"Are you in place?" Voldemort asked the men. Harry saw Crouch nod and heard the other man answer affirmatively. He did recognize the voice; it was familiar, but Harry couldn't for the life of him place it. The accent was from somewhere in Eastern Europe. The only two people Harry knew from that part of the country were Igor Karkaroff and Victor Krum. Harry decided to keep an eye on them both if possible.

"Very good," Voldemort continued. "You do remember the plan, yes?"

Both men answered, "Yes, my Lord," and Voldemort allowed a pleased smile to grace his oddly handsome face. Harry finally noticed that his eyes were the same as his reborn-forms eyes. Red and evil.

"Make sure that Longbottom is guided through the task. I don't care if he is intact; just alive," Voldemort reminded them. Well, that answers that, Harry thought. He assumed that they were indicating the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He would still ask as it couldn't hurt to make sure.

"Very well," Voldemort finished. "Resume your positions and remain until I tell you otherwise."

Harry's vision turned black and when it returned he was back in his room. He was being held by Sirius and both his godfather and his sister were looking down worriedly at him. Harry coughed and sat up, wiping the sticky blood from his forehead in disgust. He was relieved, if a bit confused to note that his forehead was still unblemished. It had simply begun to bleed.

"Are you all right, Harry," Sirius asked in concern.

Harry coughed and moved himself to the edge of his bed. Holly was looking at him with unhidden worry in her eyes. Harry felt grateful that she had accepted him that quickly. "Yeah," he wheezed. "What happened?"

"You suddenly fell to the floor and began to writhe around," Holly explained. "We were worried, even more so when your forehead began to gush."

"Was it…" Sirius trailed off and gestured vaguely.

"Voldemort, yeah." Harry was proud to note that his sister didn't flinch at the Dark Lord's name. "Sirius, is the Ministry planning on hosting the Tri-Wizard this year?"

Sirius began to sift through his memories. "Tri-Wizard?" Holly asked. "What's that?"

"Every now and then the three foremost European schools will gather for a tournament," Sirius explained while he thought. "Each school picks one champion and they have to perform three tasks they're graded on. The winner at the end of the third task is the one with the most points. Yeah, I do think we're hosting it this year. Why?"

"Remember what happened seven years ago?" Harry asked. Sirius looked thoughtful then paled.

"You mean he's going to try and come back?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but the strange thing is, he already has his body. I think he lost his magic some how."

"He did," Sirius explained. "Neville didn't have Hermione with him to help him stop Quirrel from getting the stone, so he managed to get his body back but without his magic. So far, things have been quiet but if he manages to get his magic core recharged again, things could turn ugly."

Holly remained silent and watched her brother and godfather converse back and forth about something she had never heard about. She made a mental note to confront Harry about it the next time she could get him alone.

Harry remained silent and thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe you ought to let the department know," Harry suggested. "Nothing to stir up a panic…wait…who's the minister here?"

Sirius cracked up so Holly answered for him. "The Minister of Magic is Amelia Bones," she said. Harry was inwardly relieved. He wouldn't have to deal with Fudge's incompetence. "Minister Fudge was arrested for money laundering and bribes a few years back."

Sirius finally calmed down enough to speak. "You make a good point Harry. I'll let the department know to keep an extra eye on the tourney this year. No sense in letting things go all pear shaped, eh?" He leaned over and gave Harry a brief hug. "Anyway, I should get going and let your parents know that I haven't eaten you. Take care of yourself and it's good to see you again."

Harry hugged him back. "It's good to know you're not dead." Sirius left the room but as Harry made to follow him, Holly shut the door and leaned against it. Harry recognized the look on her face. Hermione usually got it herself when she wanted answers. Harry sighed and sat down back on his bed. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Everything," Holly replied. Harry looked apprehensive and Holly sighed. "Look, if you want me to accept the new you, you need to tell me everything you can about yourself."

Harry slumped. "Where should I start?"

"How about the beginning?" Holly suggested. "I assume that in your dimension things are different. I mean, you were staring at Mum like she was a super model or something." Harry instantly looked even more defeated than before. Holly was a smart girl and instantly understood. She gasped. "Oh, god! Mum's _is_ dead, isn't she?"

Harry nodded silently. "When I said I was the boy-who-lived, I meant it," he said softly. "Mum and Dad both died that night."

Holly looked very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to be a prat." She fell silent and waited for Harry to continue.

"My story isn't too different from Neville's," Harry began. "Voldemort killed Mum and Dad, but something kept him from killing me. I was always told that it was something Mum did. Some ancient magic, but no one knows for sure. Anyway, Hagrid and Dumbledore rescued me from the ruins of the house."

"Where did you live as a baby? Do you know?"

"Here," Harry supplied. "This is actually the first time I've actually seen the house in one piece that I can remember. Hermione and I visited the ruins after our seventh year…" Harry trailed off, just realizing what he said. He hoped that Holly hadn't caught on, but she had unfortunately.

"Seventh year?" she questioned cautiously.

"I'm really twenty one years old," Harry explained. Holly looked skeptical. "Ask Sirius." Holly looked argumentative but Harry plowed on. "_Any_way, they rescued me from the ruins and left me to stay with the Dursleys. Before you ask, Sirius ran off looking for Peter Pettigrew. He ended up getting framed for both Pettigrew's and twelve muggles' murders and spent twelve years in Azkaban."

Holly blanched. She didn't know that! Then again, she didn't know that her brother was a dimensional alien until today either. She tried to keep an open mind and beckoned Harry to continue.

"So, I spent the next ten years in torture at the Dursleys. Dudley…you know who Dudley is right? (Holly nodded)…He liked to play a game called Harry-Hunting. He and his goons would chase me around and if they caught me, they'd beat me to a pulp. Needless to say, I developed some really nice reflexes. Anyway, Petunia and Vernon put me into the cupboard under the stairs till my eleventh birthday, when my Hogwarts letter came." Harry paused when he noticed the horrified look on his sister's face. "What?"

"I always knew that the Dursleys were horrid people but I didn't know that they'd do that!" she exclaimed. Harry nodded, inwardly relieved that Holly was taking this as well as she was.

"Yep, but things got better…slowly, but they did. Vernon threw my first Hogwarts letter away. When I didn't respond, they sent more and more till finally they ended up sending hundreds by the end of the week. You should have seen his face. I though he was going to have an aneurism," Harry said laughing at the memory. "So Vernon's solution to the letters was to drag the four of us out to this rickety old shack that sat on a rocky island in the channel, but lo and behold, Hagrid shows up.

"He ended up giving me my first birthday cake, giving Dudley a pig's tail, and nearly gave Vernon a heart attack. We went from there to Diagon Alley where Hagrid bought me my first real gift, Hedwig." Harry said.

"Who's Hedwig?" Holly asked.

"I was wondering about that," Harry mused mostly to himself. "Hedwig was my owl. She died when she was shot out of the sky by some death eaters…" Harry's voice cracked and Holly gave him a moment to compose himself. "Anyway, my first year… I met Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on the train ride to Hogwarts. Ron and I…what? What do I need to know?"

"You and Ron…aren't the best of friends…" Holly said cautiously. To her surprise Harry simply shrugged.

"We had a falling out back in my dimension," Harry offered without being asked. "Anyway, I wasn't friends with Hermione till after Ron and I saved her from the troll." He watched Holly's eyes bug out. "Yes, troll. Quirrel let it in so he could make a grab for the philosopher's stone, but Snape stopped him."

"Snape's not a death eater?" Holly asked incredulously.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, he is. But he's a spy for Dumbledore."

Holly looked like her world had just turned upside down. "But he's such an ass!"

Once Harry calmed down he continued. "Nothing much happened between the troll and the end of the year besides Quirrel trying to kill me once during a quidditch game. Not only did he fail, but I still caught the snitch," Harry crowed arrogantly. "So, at the end of the year, Hermione Ron and I followed Quirrel into the horrible obstacle course that the stone is hidden in. Ron gets us through the giant chess set but gets taken out, and Hermione solved the logic puzzle that Snape set up. I managed to get the stone and fry Quirrel, who by the way had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head.

"That summer I met Dobby, the Malfoy's house elf. He had been stopping all my mail and tried to sabotage me from returning to Hogwarts. He claimed he was helping me. He broke my arm with a bludger, charmed the gate at King's Cross to not let me and Ron through, and nearly got me expelled for using magic at the Dursleys in full view of muggles."

"That doesn't sound very helpful," Holly said. Harry chuckled. "What was he trying to help you with?"

"He overheard Lucius Malfoy's plan to give someone at the school a cursed diary. The diary had a fragment of Voldemort's soul in it. Dobby didn't want me to get hurt for some reason but the only way he knew to help me, was to hurt me," Harry explained. Holly shook her head in bemusement. "Yeah, doesn't make sense to me either. Anyway, it turned out that Ginny Weasley got the diary and ended up possessed by the teenage Voldemort. He made her release a ginormous basilisk in the school that ended up petrifying some four people and Filch's cat. I could hear it in the walls, hissing and slithering around, but everyone thought I was crazy and evil since it was revealed that I could talk to snakes.

"Oh! Did I mention that Gilderoy Lockhart was our DADA teacher that year?" Harry asked. He was pleased as punch to note that his sister made a face.

"That fraud?" she asked. "You mean Dumbledore willingly hired him?"

Harry nodded. "I don't pretend to know how the old man's mind works. Anyway, a message was written in blood on the wall that said that Ginny was going to die in the chamber so Ron and I, Hermione had been petrified, went down into the chamber to rescue her. We wanted an adult with us but the only one available at the time was…"

"Lockhart?" Holly offered.

"Right in one. He followed us down there and once we made it to the basilisk shedding, he took Ron's wand, which had been broken at the beginning of the year by the way, and tried to _obliviate_ us, leave us for dead and take the credit. Ron's wand backfired and collapsed the cavern with me on one side and Ron and a brain dead Lockhart on the other. So I went into the chamber proper and ended up fighting the basilisk with some help from the sorting hat, the Sword of Gryffindor and Fawkes. I destroyed the diary and the specter of Tom Riddle with a basilisk fang that I pulled from my arm and revived Ginny. We got out of the tunnels and went to tell Dumbledore what had happened. I have the ruined diary back to Lucius with a sock in it and he in turn gave it to Dobby and freed him."

Harry noticed that Holly had gotten over her skepticism and seemed rather overwhelmed. "We can talk about this later," he said. Holly shook her head and motioned for him to go on, so he did.

"In my third year, I blew up Dudley's aunt Marge with some accidental magic. I was lucky that the Ministry decided to overlook it but not until I ran away. That was the year that Sirius escaped from Azkaban by the way. Oddly enough, that was the only year that Voldemort didn't try and kill me," Harry mused.

"It was also the only year we had a competent DADA teacher; Remus. Do you know what the Marauder's Map is?" Harry asked. Holly nodded.

"You and I use it to prank people with. Handy little tool, that."

"It was given to me by the Weasley twins that year. It was revealed that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers was really Pettigrew in disguise and Sirius is really my godfather and was innocent. Remus taught me to cast a _Patronus_ that year because the Ministry wisely thought that Dementors around a school would be a good idea. Dementors really screw with my head. I hear Mum and Dad being killed by Voldemort."

Holly gave Harry his very first hug from his sister. He was grateful, if a bit awkward in returning it. "Thanks," Harry said. Holly smiled at him. "So, Pettigrew managed to escape and Sirius had to go on the run. Snape revealed that Remus was a werewolf and he had to quit his job as a teacher." Holly scowled thinking that sounded just like something the greasy bat would do. "In retrospect, third year was actually kind of mild, all things considered.

"Moving on, my fourth year…this time seems to be going exactly like mine did, what with the tournament and all," Harry said. "All we need now is for someone to surprise us with tickets to the quidditch world cup." Holly waited patiently for Harry to continue, but when he wasn't forth coming she prodded him with her index finger. "What?"

"Aren't you going to continue?" Holly asked.

"You really want to hear it?" Harry asked pensively. Holly's nod could have given Dobby a run for his money. Harry sighed in resignation. He really hated talking about his fourth year and on at Hogwarts. They were some of the worst memories that he had of the school, with Hermione being the only bright spot. "Okay. Fourth year…do you know who Alastor Moody is?"

"Isn't he a retired Auror or something? Really paranoid?" She asked. Harry nodded. "Dad and Sirius talk about him all the time. They call him loopy."

"Well, he is, and Dumbledore decided that he would be a great idea to hire him as the DADA teacher. The catch was he was a death eater polyjuiced to look like Mad-eye. I learned more from him that year than I did the previous three years combined. Well, he somehow snuck my name into the goblet of fire; the magical cup they use to pick the three champions and made it think that I was from a fourth school. So that year there were four champions with two of them being from Hogwarts. I had to face the three tasks; the first was getting a golden egg from a dragon, the second was rescuing Ron from the merpeople in the lake, and the third was a hedge maze with obstacles and at the end of the maze was the Tri-Wizard Cup. The first person to grab it, won.

"Well, the fake Moody manipulated the last task so it would be easy for me. He put Viktor Krum (Harry ignored Holly's excited gasp) under the _imperius_ curse and ordered him to stop the other two. Regardless of that, Cedric Diggory still managed to make it to the cup at the same time as I did. It was a portkey that took us to where Voldemort and Pettigrew were lying in wait. He never stood a chance…"

Harry trailed off and tried to get his emotions under control. He had reconciled with the feelings from his fourth and fifth years a long time ago but had never had a family member care enough to listen like Holly was. Holly gave Harry the time he needed and waited patiently for him to continue.

"So, Pettigrew killed Cedric and I was bound to a tombstone. Pettigrew cut my arm and took the blood back to the cauldron that a potion was brewing in. Once the potion was finished, Pettigrew dropped the withered Voldemort-Baby in the bubbling potion and out came a full grown snake monster of a man," Harry paused and shuddered. Holly put her hand on his arm.

"You don't have to go on," she told him. Harry looked at his sister gratefully.

"Thank you, but this is actually helping. I never had any family before now so I'm very appreciative of this," he said. Holly scooted closer to him and sat at his side, never taking her hand from his arm. Holly was really beginning to like this 'new' Harry. The old Harry would have cringed from her touch and called her names.

Harry went on. "So he and I dueled, and I managed to escape because my old wand and his are brothers. They linked and the spirits of everyone he killed poured out of his wand. They gave me enough time to get Cedric's body and get back to the cup so I could portkey out. It was later that day that the fake Moody tried to kill me but I was saved by Dumbledore and they gave Crouch Jr. the kiss. That summer, I kept having visions of a long, black hallway with a door at the end of it. I ignored them because I always had weird dreams. Turns out that Voldemort was sending me visions over our scar link. The ministry sent a representative to the school to maintain order. Delores Umbridge…" Harry growled the name. "I hate her almost as I hate Voldemort. She ended up taking over the school and refused to teach us any practical magic, so I formed an illegal defense club that we called 'Dumbledore's Army', or the DA for short.

"Eventually, Voldemort sent me a vision of Sirius being tortured and Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna Lovegood, Neville and I ran off to the Ministry to save him. It was a trap. Turns out there was a…" Harry paused, unsure if he should reveal the prophecy to his sister. He looked long and hard at her before making his decision. "What I tell you next can _not_ leave this room. Even beyond the fact that Sirius and I are from another dimension, _no_ one can find out about this. Understand?"

Holly nodded somberly, shocked at her brother's sudden change in demeanor.

"Okay," Harry said. "Voldemort wanted me to retrieve a prophecy; one that dealt with me and him. I'm sure that it exists here too, but with Neville instead of me. So, I grab the orb and then death eaters apparate in all around us. We run and fight and end up in the death chamber, with the veil of death. The order of the phoenix arrived then to save us, but in the ensuing fight, Sirius was hit with a curse and fell through the veil. I thought he was dead and ran after his cousin, Bellatrix who had cursed him. I was so anguished at the thought that Sirius, my last link to my family, had died that I didn't hesitate to use the _cruciatis_ curse on Bellatrix when I finally caught up to her…"

Harry noticed that his sister had tears in her eyes and he was touched that she would feel sorrow for him. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Want me to continue?"

Holly sniffed and nodded while wiping her eyes. "Please go on. I'm just sad that you've had to deal with all of that." Any doubt in her mind that Harry was telling the truth was dashed at this point. Either that or the imposter playing as her brother was a very good story teller.

"That was six years ago, and obviously, the old mutt didn't die," Harry said with a laugh. "But at the time, I didn't even think about that. I was just so angry that he was 'dead' that I tried to use an unforgivable on the woman who killed him. It didn't work, fortunately, but the thought that I had even tried tore me up for years afterward. Eventually, Voldemort himself showed and Dumbledore once again came to my rescue. Their duel was phenomenal. Watching that fight is what inspired me to become a transfiguration master."

"You're a transfiguration master?" Holly asked with awe in her voice. Her favorite class at Hogwarts was transfiguration but she was rubbish at it.

Harry nodded and wandlessly transfigured his end table into a cute little Labrador puppy. "Wandlessly too." While Holly was distracted by the bundle of fur, he went on with his story. "Eventually Voldemort possessed me but I managed to drive him out somehow. Later that night, Dumbledore told me about the prophecy. I guess he figured that with what had just happened to me, one more piece of bad news wouldn't upset me too much." Harry saw that the puppy was starting to chew on his shoe and changed it back into an end table. "Thoughtful of him, huh?

"That summer, Dumbledore decided for me that I needed time to grieve for my loss on my own and kept anyone from contacting me. Turned out in the long run that he was trying to groom me to be the perfect weapon against the Dark Lord by destroying my feelings. Didn't work by the way. So, Hermione came and rescued me from the Dursleys right under the order's nose. She whisked me away to her parent's house and they took me to Italy with them for the rest of the summer. Over the vacation she and I realized that we loved each other."

"Who's this Hermione girl you keep mentioning? I know, Luna, Neville and the Weasleys, but not Hermione," Holly said.

Harry stared at his sister for a moment. "Hermione Granger? Bit of a know it all, bushy hair?" he asked. Holly shook her head 'no'. "She'd be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Still no. Harry sighed. There went his last hope of meeting Hermione in this dimension. "She was my fiancée before the veil. She was pulled through with me and I was hoping that she'd end up here."

"I'm sorry Harry."

"It's not your fault, Holly, but thanks for the concern anyway. While we were in Italy, both Dumbledore and Voldemort came after me. It was right about then that I started noticing that my magic was becoming really powerful. I could cast complicated spells really easily. I managed to fend both of them off and convinced Dumbledore to leave me alone. Sixth and seventh years weren't too exciting. I distanced myself from Dumbledore and the order, Ron let his jealousy consume him and Hermione and I went back into the chamber of secrets and discovered the lost library of Salazar Slytherin. Down there I discovered that Voldemort and I shared one huge magic reservoir and Hermione discovered a potion to force an animagus transformation."

Holly instantly became excited. She bounced up and down on her knees. "That's right! You're an animagus!" she asked excitedly. Harry nodded. "Show me!"

Harry smiled and made a show of sighing exasperatedly. Then he turned into a big black wolf and smiled a doggy grin at his sister.

"Oooh!" Holly cooed. She scratched Harry behind the ears and Harry nearly melted into a puddle. He had loved it when Hermione would do that; it felt so good. "You're gorgeous!"

Harry mischievously licked Holly's face before changing back. Holly wiped her face disgustedly and Harry heard the garden snake laughing. Or what passed for laughing for a snake. "Sirius was happy too. Says we need to go for a run some time. Hermione turned into a fox by the way."

Holly slapped his arm when she was done with her face. "That was nasty!" she growled. "Can you make a potion for me?"

Harry frowned. "I remember how, but I need powdered basilisk fang. It's not exactly a common ingredient," he said. Holly looked dejected and Harry hastily added. "I'll tell you what. I'll look. That's all I can promise." Holly looked happy with that and Harry went on with his story. "So, we trained as best as we could. I found out that the sword of Gryffindor is a spell blade. You can use it to store spells in and the blade takes on the effect of the magic. If I cast an Avada Kedavra into it, I wouldn't need to stab you, just touch you with the blade.

"Ron made up with me in my seventh year, but we never regained our friendship. He still helped Hermione and I look for Voldemort's phylactery. The locket he kept his soul in," he explained at Holly's perplexed look. She nodded and Harry went on. "When we got back, Voldemort was attacking Hogwarts…"

A shaded look fell over Harry's eyes and Holly instinctively knew that he was talking about something that was difficult for him. The wounds were still too fresh. She laid a reassuring arm on his shoulder and squeezed lovingly. Harry smiled at her and soldiered on. "There were so many dead, Holly. It almost wasn't worth it when I finally managed to kill him. But it was over. I had won. I proposed to Hermione and she and I went on with our lives. I became an Auror and she got a job in the department of mysteries as an unspeakable. She was researching the veil of death while Neville and I rounded up the last of Voldemort's followers. Hermione found out that the veil was actually a doorway to other worlds, and that Sirius might be alive. Well…that leads us here."

Holly looked thoughtful for a moment before looking up at her brother with a cheeky grin. "So, you've been through all seven years at Hogwarts already?" she asked. Harry nodded. "So, think you can help me with my homework?"

It took a moment before Harry dissolved into a puddle of mirth. Once he got himself under control, he lightly slapped his sister on the back of her head. "I pour my heart out to you and that's all you got out of it?" he asked between chuckles. "Prat. Now it's your turn. I need to know more about myself here so I don't give anything away."

Holly smiled and said, "What do you want to know?"

"What classes am I good at? Who are my friends? What I'm like around Mum and Dad most importantly."

Holly looked thoughtful for a moment before beginning. "Well, you've always been good at transfiguration but you're no master. You're better at charms I think. I never really cared. You were always such a git toward me. You were always doing mean things to me, like calling me names, short-sheeting my bed…stuff like that. It's why I started pranking you back."

Harry scowled when he heard that. How could he treat his sister like that? Then again, the Harry from before most likely took his sister for granted. "Go on," he said.

"Let's see…your friends are Fred and George Weasley and Dean Thomas. I think you got it in your heads to reform the Marauders or something. You're a bit of an insufferable prat and never show affection toward anyone, so I was a bit surprised when you wrestled with Dad and gave Mum a hug. You were also a bit rude and never asked to be excused from the table. Oh, and you don't like quidditch."

Harry looked like he had just been slapped. "What? Not like… How could I not like quidditch? I was the youngest seeker in a century!" Holly looked confused. "I made the Gryffindor house team my first year at Hogwarts."

"Well, you could always say you've been practicing…"

"I can't give up flying…I can't. I refuse," Harry said. "And I refuse to treat you like rubbish. You're my sister. I always wished I had a sibling when I was growing up. Now I have one and I love her."

Holly smiled as her eyes welled up with tears. Yes, this Harry was definitely an improvement. "Don't expect me to stop pranking you," Holly said.

Harry laughed and said, "I wouldn't expect you to, and I won't stop either. A good pranking is sometimes fun, right?"

Holly agreed. "Yeah. The best prank you ever pulled on me was when you charmed our play bludgers to follow me around and constantly pelt me," she said.

Harry cracked up. He could totally envision that. Harry found that he liked his sister's company and decided to spend more time with the sharp young girl. They continued to share prank stories; most of Harry's coming from his Weasley twins, when James poked his head into the room.

"You two are awfully quiet up here," he said. Harry didn't tell him about the silencing charm Sirius placed on the door.

"Just talking, Dad," Harry said. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you two that I got tickets to the quidditch world cup for next week," James said. Then he smiled impishly. "G'night."

Harry and Holly stared at each other for a moment. Then Harry said, "There you go…"

**(((o)))**

The next day, the Potters went as a family to Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies. Harry was excited to finally be back in Diagon Alley, more so because it was his first trip with his family. The fact that they were extra dimensional didn't even cross his mind. They went from store to store and bought all the books Harry and Holly would need for the up coming school year as well as any replacement supplies. When they were in Flourish & Blott's, James and Harry managed to sneak off while Lily and Holly went to get the school books.

When they passed Eylop's Owl Emporium, Harry managed to convince his parents to go look at owls. He explained that, since his birthday was coming up, he really wanted an owl. Harry scoured the store but was dismayed to find that Hedwig was missing. Holly rubbed his back gently. "She's probably happy where ever she is," she offered comfortingly.

It wasn't until the end of the day, when they sat down for a late afternoon ice cream, that things went all pear shaped.

Harry happened to glance up and spied the Weasley family making their way over to the table the Potters were sitting at. Holly squeezed Harry's knee and whispered in his ear, "Remember, you're not friends with Ron."

Harry nodded and watched as Molly, Arthur, Ron and Ginny approached. He noticed that they seemed to be a bit wealthier than they were in his dimension and their clothes reflected that. They were wearing only the finest. Harry watched as Molly and Arthur approached his parents as Ron and Ginny came up to them. Ron walked with a swagger Harry never thought that the boy would possess. Honestly, Ron reminded Harry of a red headed Draco Malfoy.

Ginny followed obediently in his wake. She seemed a bit more subdued that what he was used to. He idly wondered if she was seeing Neville in this dimension…or if she would.

Harry recognized the escalating tensions between the Weasleys and his parents and decided to move away as far as possible. He grabbed Holly by the arm and walked away from Ron and Ginny, but unfortunately forgot that the patio they were on was fenced in. He had nowhere to go and was eventually cornered by Ron.

"Potter," Ron spat. "Decided to crawl out of your hole, did you?"

Harry's hackles instantly rose. "What's it to you Weasley?" he growled wolfishly back. He had never really forgiven his Ron for the falling out they had back in his dimension and he subconsciously wanted to take it out on this one. Holly recognized where this was going to go and hissed warningly. Her brother may have changed but his temper obviously hadn't. Harry chose to ignore the warning and glared venomously at the red head.

Ron evidentially hadn't expected Harry to go from docile to angry in a second flat and was momentarily tripped up. He recovered nicely though. "I just didn't expect you'd want to be seen in public with your mudblood sister and mother."

If Harry hadn't been enraged at that point, he would have seen Ginny cringe and Holly reach for her wand. As it was, he was faster and in a flash, he had his 'new' wand pressed to Ron's gullet. "You may want to watch what you say from now on, Weasley," Harry hissed dangerously. He wasn't exactly sure he wasn't speaking parseltongue. "I'm no push over, and I will hurt you very severely should you step too much farther over that line you just crossed."

Ron gulped nervously while Ginny looked frightened for her brother. She didn't move to do anything though and glanced at Harry apologetically. Holly gently pulled Harry's wand arm away from Ron's head. "Don't, Harry," she whispered as their parents ran up to them. "He's not worth it."

Molly grabbed Ron in one of her bear hugs. "Oh my little Ronniekins! Did he hurt you?" she cried. She didn't give Ron the chance to respond before whirling and pointing at Lily. "This is what I was telling you about, Arthur! Barbarians the lot of them!"

Lily looked affronted and James cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Barbarians!?" Lily shouted. "I'll show you barbarians!"

She began to pull her wand out but Harry stopped her. "No Mum. Let's walk away the better people here." Lily huffed and looked like she wanted to argue but grabbed James' arm and towed him off. Once they were out of hearing range, Harry turned to his sister. "What in Merlin's name was that all about?"

Before Holly had the chance to answer however, Fred and George seemingly materialized out of thin air on either side of Harry. Harry started and resisted the urge to draw his wand again. "Sorry about that old chap," Fred said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

George followed suit with his other shoulder. "We tried to get over here to warn you but didn't make it in time."

Harry shrugged; a difficult task with two people on your shoulders, while Holly laughed at him. "No worries, mates," He said. "I think I gave little Ronniekins a bit of a scare. Perhaps he'll leave us alone this coming school year."

Both of the twins nodded sagely then snapped to attention before Harry. They saluted him. "Would you like us-"

"-to prank him?" they said in twin speak.

Harry never did get used to that. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and the addressed them like a commander. "Put itching powder in his knickers and spiders in his bed. That will be all men."

The twins dropped the façade and bade goodbye to Harry and Holly before following their family. Harry turned to his sister and finally couldn't contain his mirth anymore. "That was fun!" he laughed. Once he calmed down and they caught up with his parents, he whispered to Holly, "Now…what the hell?"

Holly sighed. "When you were younger, you were best mates with Neville. Somewhere along the line the Weasleys entered the picture and Ron and Neville pretty much abandoned you. Somehow your little fight bled over to our families and now they constantly try to prove they're better than us."

Harry frowned. That didn't sound like the Weasleys at all. He wondered if the rest of his old friends would be different here too. So far, the only familiar faces he had seen were Sirius and now the Weasleys. Sirius was _his_ Sirius, so he didn't count. The twins were ok, but Ron was a Malfoy clone, his parents were similar to Vernon and Petunia, and Ginny seemed like a wallflower.

Harry realized then that this year wouldn't be as relaxing as he thought.


	3. Quidditch World Cup redux

The portkey dumped Harry unceremoniously to the soft wet grass of the campsite. The morning had gone pretty much as Harry had remembered it, minus the Weasleys and plus the Potters and the Blacks.

They had risen early; Harry courtesy of a bucket of water from Sirius, and left for the portkey site. It was much too early in Harry's opinion. Even after working for two years as an Auror with a 5am start time, Harry had never gotten used to getting up that early. Still, he found a little sadistic satisfaction in the fact that his 'new' sister wasn't a morning person either. Her hair was still mussed and she had her shirt on backward. Harry didn't tell her about her shirt until they had reached the portkey site.

Harry accepted a hand up from his laughing sister and cast a discrete wandless drying charm on his damp clothing before following his family to their tents. If Harry had been impressed by the Weasley's tent the last time, it paled in comparison to the tent the Potters had. It was huge and posh; the furniture looked new and comfortable and from his initial estimate there were six rooms and a full kitchen. Magic still awed Harry.

James sighed from behind Harry. "I said a small tent," he groaned. He pushed by Harry and winked slyly at him, and Harry had the distinct feeling that he was supposed to know something but shrugged it off and took a seat on the sofa.

Holly said something about looking for her friends and took off out of the tent. "Be back in an hour!" Lily called after her.

"I'm going to go get some water," James announced before giving Lily a quick kiss and exiting the tent. Harry was immediately aware that he was alone for the first time ever with his mother. And he had nothing to say.

He stared at her as she bustled around the tent, preparing to start cooking breakfast and Harry decided that he could watch her all day. He thought that people would find it odd but he didn't care. He never had a mother when he was growing up. The closest thing to a mother he had was Mrs. Weasley but she wasn't his mother. Then again, this Lily wasn't exactly his either. Harry stared at the floor of the tent lost in thought. What he wouldn't give to have Hermione with him.

"Harry, dear? Are you feeling alright?" Lily's voice broke him from his morose thoughts.

"Yes, mum. Just…bored I guess."

Lily sighed. "I told your father that you wouldn't want to come, not being a fan of quidditch and all," she said. "Still, try and enjoy it a bit, okay?"

Harry nodded as Lily went back to her preparing. He busied himself with a copy of quidditch through the ages to pass the time until breakfast when Holly came barging into the tent with two familiar redheads in tow. "Look who I found," she said happily.

Harry happily greeted the Weasley twins. "Hey Gred, Forge," he said. "What's up?"

With a happy grin, the twins approached Harry from either side and put their arms around his shoulders. Harry was immediately on guard. Their gesture usually meant the twins wanted something. "So, Prongslet, Mr. Bagman is over at our tent-" Fred began.

"-Taking bets and we wanted to know-"

"-If you'd be interested in-"

"Chipping in," they finished together. Harry was momentarily confused before a devious grin spread across his face and the twins looked at each other apprehensively.

Harry never did like Ludo Bagman in the previous dimension and relished the thought of relieving him of some of his ill gotten gains. "Hey Holly!" he called to his sister, who was helping Lily in make breakfast. Or trying to; Holly was a mess in the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Come here for a sec," Harry called. Holly wiped her hands of the egg that was covering them and went to Harry. Harry had to try hard not to laugh at his mother's relieved and grateful expression. "How much money do you have?"

Holly immediately looked defensive. "Why?"

Harry held up his hands placatingly. "Just hear me out. Gred and Forge here want to make a bet on the game. I say we pitch in all our money and see where we end up." Holly made to object but Harry held up a hand and stopped her. "Trust me…"

Holly frowned a bit before a similar devious grin grew on her face. "Is this about that…dream you had?" she asked. Harry nodded happily. "I'm in." Holly pulled her money pouch out of her pocket and handed it to Harry, who handed both his and Holly's to the twins. Together, they had just over one hundred galleons.

On their way over to the Weasley's tent, Harry told them the plan, carefully leaving out anything about being from another dimension. "Just remember, let me speak."

The four of them trekked the short distance to the Weasley's tent where a man dressed very sharply in a muggle suit was talking with Mr. Weasley and Ludo Bagman. It took Harry a moment to recognize the suited man as Barty Crouch Sr. Bagman noticed their approach and excused himself from the conversation.

"So," he said jovially, with just a hint of greed in his voice. "Have you made your decision?"

"Indeed we have Mr. Bagman," Fred answered. "Harry?"

Harry immediately plastered the most awestruck expression on his face that he could. "Ludo Bagman," he said breathlessly. He took the man's hand pumped it enthusiastically. "I'm a huge fan of yours."

Bagman seemed taken aback by this sudden eagerness and tried to wave it off with a bashful grin on his boyish face. "Yes, well…I take it you're the spokesman for your little group?" he asked.

"Oh yes Mr. Bagman," Harry said. He still hadn't stopped shaking Bagman's hand. Harry heard his sister try unsuccessfully to stifle her snickers behind her hand. "We have decided to pool our money." Harry handed the sack of galleons to Bagman, who took it with a greedy glint in his eye. "We want one hundred and six galleons on Ireland winning, but Krum getting the snitch." The glint in Bagman's eyes intensified and he looked about to say something, but Harry cut him off. "Furthermore, the score will be 170 to 160."

Bagman appeared to be mulling something over in his mind before he finally seemed to come to a decision. "Okay then. I'll give you fifty to one odds on that one."

Harry grinned. "Excellent!" he exclaimed as Bagman jotted something down in his notebook. "I just wanted to say, that bludger you whacked at Wilkenson against the Tornadoes; very nice."

"It's always nice to meet a fan," Bagman said before excusing himself.

George turned to Harry with an astonished look on his face. "I didn't know you were a fan of the Wasps."

"I'm not," Harry laughed. "All that was rubbish; trying to butter him up."

Fred shared an apprehensive look with his twin. "I do hope you know what you're doing, Harry," he said. "That was our life savings."

"Trust him," Holly said reassuringly. "I do."

* * *

Harry leaned against the guardrail in the box, a bored expression on his face. If one were to look at him they would definitely think that he didn't like watching the game of quidditch, but that was the furthest from the truth. Harry still loved the game so much so in fact, that after graduation, he nearly turned down his job as captain of the Auror squad in favor of a reserve seeker for the Hollyhead Harpies. It would have been the ultimate practical joke; the first male player on the Harpies in the history of the team. If they had offered him the starting seeker position he may have taken it, but as it was, it was still a difficult decision.

No, Harry's problem was that he didn't like watching the same game twice. He found it boring and predictable, understandingly, and had a hard time keeping himself awake. And indeed, though the world cup hadn't started yet, events were proceeding just as they had before. Hell, even the billboards in the stadium were identical, as far as Harry could remember. Harry offhandedly wondered if Winky was in the box with the Weasleys, saving a seat for her master.

So, when the game officially started, and the mascots were introduced, Harry simply sank into his thoughts about Hermione and pointedly ignored both the Veela and the Leprechauns. Harry didn't notice his father giving him some very strange glances.

In James' opinion, only those with strong minds and wills; such as himself, or those who weren't attracted to women could ignore the wiles of a single Veela. Even he had trouble resisting the pack that represented the mascots of the Bulgarian national team. So when he noticed his son staring down at the railing instead of trying to do something stupid like jump to his death, he could only draw one conclusion from it.

"Harry…" he began tentatively. Harry looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Are you…well…you know…" he trailed off.

"Am I what, Dad?"

"Well…do you like…men?"

Harry's face drained of all color. "What!?" he spluttered. "Hell no! I…what…why did you even ask that?"

James had the good graces to look ashamed. "Well, you see, the Veela have this…compulsion…"

"Oh," Harry said, interrupting his father. "I know all about Veela; we learned about them in DADA last year."

James nodded. "But then, how?"

"You see…there's this girl I like and…"

"Ah," James said in realization. "I get it. I resist the same way, thinking about your mother."

Harry had the sudden mental image of his mother, naked. "Ew…"

James somehow knew what was going through Harry's mind and decided to play with him a bit. "You see, she has this cute little mole right over her…"

"EW! No! I didn't need to hear that!"

James chuckled and went back to watching the mascots taunt and jeer at each other and Harry busied himself trying to find the Weasleys. He didn't have any luck so instead sat back in his seat and waited for the game to start. The Bulgarian team was introduced and Harry was interested to note that his father was a fan of Victor Krum. Holly however along with Lily were both fans of the Irish team and cheered twice as loud as James for their introduction.

Soon, the game was underway and Harry watched half-heartedly as it progressed almost exactly as it had before. Ireland was racking up the points and their seeker, Lynch had already been ploughed once. Holly plopped down on the seat next to him and elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

"Bored much?" she asked.

"You have _no_ idea," Harry groaned. "I hate watching replays of quidditch games."

"So it is going just like you remember."

Harry nodded as Ireland scored again. Bagman began shouting that the seekers had seen the snitch. "Lynch is about to get ploughed again, in 5, 4, 3…" There was a loud thud followed by a drawn out 'ooooh' from the crowd. Harry shrugged. "I guess I was a little late." Harry and Holly walked back up to the rail to watch more of the game. Harry found that inserting his own commentary about it was more entertaining than watching it, for both himself and his sister.

"Did you see that!?" James crowed excitedly. "Krum is an amazing flyer. I wish we had him as seeker on the house team when I was back in school."

"That's nothing," Holly said offhandedly thinking about Harry's flying skills the other day. "You should have seen Harry…" She trailed off at Harry's withering glare. "Uh…"

James and Lily both turned toward their children. They knew that Harry wasn't a good flyer. He never had been. "Seen Harry what dear?" Lily asked.

Harry turned his glare away from his cringing sister and schooled his face into a sheepish expression. "I've been practicing in my spare time. I guess Holly thinks I'm pretty good."

Holly's meekness turned into indignation. "PRETTY good?" she blurted disbelievingly. "He out flew _me_. The youngest chaser on the team for twenty years!"

James got that misty eyed look that Harry had often seen in Mrs. Weasley's eyes when she was feeling particularly emotional while Lily just rolled her eyes. "I knew you were just a late bloomer," James gushed pulling Harry into a very tight hug.

"Daaaaad," Harry groaned. "Gerrof."

Suddenly there was a deafening cheer from the crowd, followed by Bagman's somewhat morose voice proclaiming, "And Krum catches the snitch, but Ireland still wins! 170 to 160…oh dear…"

Lily looked excited that Ireland won, and James looked equally bummed, but Holly had the widest grin on her face that Harry had ever seen on anyone. The hopped up and down squealing gleefully. "Oh my gawd! Harry!" she screamed pulling her brother into a bone crunching hug. "We're rich!"

Harry had to laugh at his sister's exuberance. She was almost as bubbly as Lavender and Parvati were. "Calm down," he laughed. "We don't want to give anything away do we?"

Holly instantly sobered but couldn't keep from smiling. James and Lily led the two of them out of the stadium before the crowds got too thick. Before long they were back at their campsite and Harry wasn't too surprised to see Fred and George already there waiting for them, each with their own wide grins.

"Harry, mate," George began. "You definitely need to tell us about all your dreams from now on."

Fred nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely."

They split the money between the four of them, each receiving one thousand and twenty five galleons. "So how did Bagman take it?" Harry asked.

Fred laughed. "He was crushed but interested in talking to you," he said. "I'd keep an eye out for him if I were you."

Harry could only nod.

That evening, the entire campground was one big party. Alcohol was abundant but commonsense was lacking so Harry and his family stayed in their tent and celebrated their own way; over Lily's cooking while talking about the game. Sirius and his family had joined them for dinner. Sirius, Holly and James were all talking about the game excitedly, Sirius especially so since he hadn't been able to attend the first time around. Amanda and Lily were discussing something in hushed tones in the kitchen section of the tent leaving Harry and Michelle alone on the sofa.

Michelle kept sending Harry shy glances and would look away giggling when Harry caught her eye. He was distinctly reminded of Ginny and her crush on him before his fifth year so he was definitely relieved when they Blacks returned to their own tent for the night.

The Potter family decided to play a couple games of exploding snap before bed. Harry leaned over to Holly and whispered, "You weren't kidding."

"Huh?"

"About Michelle," Harry elaborated. "She's crushing on my so hard I don't think I can breathe."

Holly giggled. "Told you."

"Yes well…" Harry started but froze. In the comfort of his family he had completely forgotten about what was to happen at midnight.

Lily happened to catch Harry's sudden change in moods. "Harry dear, what's wrong?"

How was Harry supposed to tell his mother that he knew what was going to happen that night? He panicked a bit before erecting his Occlumency shields and forcing himself calm. He could tell her a bit of the truth. "I just got a bad feeling is all. You know, all the booze, Ireland's victory and all…"

Lily tilted her head questioningly at her son. "Are you sure, Harry?"

Harry hesitated a moment then nodded his head. Holly gazed at him fearfully. "Do you think we should leave?" she asked.

Harry looked at his parents. "I think that's up to you two," he said.

James looked at Lily before answering Harry. "I think we'll be safe," he said cautiously. "We have extra Auror protection and all."

Harry sighed a bit then nodded reluctantly. "Ok then," he said. He hoped that everything would be all right.

* * *

That night, Harry lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling of the magical tent. Try as he might, he just couldn't get to sleep. His thoughts were racing with the events that were sure to happen. He wondered exactly how and if things were going to be different though, especially with Voldemort already having a body. To be honest, he was confused as to why Voldemort hadn't attacked before now. Harry closed his eyes and sighed. He remained that way until he felt something land on his bed. He opened his eye a crack and saw that it was his sister.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"No," Holly said simply. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Holly said, "You really think there is going to be an attack tonight?"

Harry grunted affirmatively. "There was before, and with Voldemort having his body and all, I'm a little surprised there hasn't been one earlier."

"What's going to happen?" Holly asked, her voice laced with worry.

Harry shrugged. "Honestly I'm not too sure. What did happen though is a handful of former death eaters got drunk and decided to have a little _fun_," Harry explained. "I have no reason to doubt that it won't happen here."

Holly lay down next to him and pillowed her head on his shoulder. Harry was a bit taken aback by this. He didn't think his sister trusted him enough yet for physical contact. "I'm scared," she said in a small voice.

Ah, he thought. He understood now. "Don't be," he soothed putting his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Holly sighed. "I know."

Harry let his sister snuggle with him as she fell back asleep. It was an interesting feeling, he noted. Different from what he felt when Hermione would snuggle with him, but not unwelcome. He assumed that it was love for a family member and left it at that. He was glad he had a sister now.

It wasn't long before Harry could hear the sounds of a commotion from outside the tent. It started as muffled thumps but soon dissolved into screams of panic. "So it starts," Harry whispered to himself. He gently shook Holly awake. "Hey, sis, you need to wake up."

"Muh? Whuzzah?" Holly instantly sat up straight not realizing that she had drooled on her brother's shoulder. She blearily wiped her eyes and gazed sleepily at Harry. "What the bloody hell?"

"Remember the attack?" Harry asked calmly. Holly instantly woke fully and began to panic. "Calm down."

"But…I…" Holly stuttered looking around the room fearfully. She grasped Harry's arm tightly, like it was a lifeline. James took that moment to come skidding into the room, his hair disheveled and his dressing gown open revealing his flannel pajamas.

"You two," he began breathlessly. "Go with…your…mother to the….portkey site."

Harry nodded stoically and retrieved his wand from the end table. Sirius took that moment to enter the tent. "Prongs!" he called. James rushed out of the room to meet him.

Harry took his frantically muttering sister by the shoulders and made her face him. "Look at me." Holly did so and shut up. "Stay close, and keep your head. Understand?" Holly nodded. "Good. Now let's go find Mum and get out of here."

They found Lily in the main room arguing loudly with Sirius and James. "I still don't understand why it has to be you two!" she shouted. "There are plenty of Aurors here!"

"That's just it," Sirius said calmly. "There aren't. Our lovely minister didn't think security was paramount here."

"I- I," Lily stuttered. She seemed to be at a loss for words.

"We'll be careful luv," James said. He kissed her lightly.

"You'd better," Lily warned. Then she noticed her children and she hurried over with their coats. "You two stick close and follow me." They both nodded.

"Sirius," Harry called as the two older men left the tent. Sirius paused and met his godson's eyes then nodded curtly. James spared one last odd glance at Harry before hurrying after Sirius.

The three of them struggled against the river of people surging away from the disturbance. Unfortunately their departure site was in the opposite direction that everyone was fleeing. Lily held on tightly to her children, afraid that they would be separated in the raging throng, but somehow they managed to make it into the forest.

It was eerily quiet in the trees; not even the sounds of panic could be heard. Harry spotted someone up ahead and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He didn't know exactly who it was but he did know that he didn't like the person. The man moved like a serpent, sticking to the shadows and darting from cover to cover till he came to a clearing in the trees. He raised a wand to the sky and Harry heard the incantation that he had dreaded ever hearing again.

"_MORSMORDRE!_"

The dark mark. The iridescent green light bathed the clearing as the skull and snake writhed in the sky, causing the tree's shadows to dance like serpents. It also revealed the man who cast it; Barty Crouch Jr. Harry had to keep from growling at the man in the leather coat so they didn't give their position away, but unfortunately, the green light did anyway.

Crouch turned toward the trio and leered at them. "I think I have time for some fun," he hissed. Harry didn't think the man was that far gone in his dimension. When he had stumbled across Harry the first time, Crouch had fled leaving Harry's wand behind in the mud. This time, Crouch seemed deranged and ready to cause suffering.

"Stay behind me," Lily whispered as she leveled her wand at the madman.

Almost instantly, a hissing beast awoke in Harry's chest; something feral that demanded that he protect his mother. He didn't know if it was normal, but he didn't care. He pulled his wand from his pocket and started to step forward but something had a hold of his arm. His sister…Harry realized and the monster calmed realizing that it had something to protect after all. Lily could protect herself. Harry stood protectively in front of Holly and leveled his wand at Crouch. "Be careful, Mum," he warned.

Lily nodded curtly then stepped forward into the clearing to face the madman. "I won't let you harm my children," she hissed. For a moment, Harry wondered if she was speaking parseltongue, but then Crouch responded.

"Oh? How exactly do you intend to stop me woman?" He jeered. "With that wand? Here, let me relieve you of it."

With that, Crouch fired an _expelliarmus_ at Lily and the battle was on. Multi-colored lights flew back and forth and Harry found that with even his extensive knowledge, he didn't know half of the spells being used. Just to be safe, he cast a _protego_ around him and his sister. They didn't want to be hit by any stray curses. Fortunately, Crouch hadn't delved into the unforgivables yet, but Harry didn't put it past him.

Harry hissed as Lily dove away from a sickly orange curse that Harry didn't know only to take a vicious bludgeoner to the side of her head. She slumped to the wet grass and lay there unmoving. Harry's vision tunneled, and all he could see was the limp form of his mother in the grass. He was vaguely aware of his sister trying to push around him, but he didn't let her move. Crouch said something.

Suddenly, the beast in Harry's chest flared to life again and he turned his tunnel vision on Crouch. The man was leering triumphantly and his mouth was moving but Harry couldn't hear anything beyond the blood pumping in his ears. He had never been so angry, even when he had thought Hermione was dead.

Holly sensed the change in Harry and backed away slowly. She could feel the waves of magic rippling off of his body; she could even see it move the grass and his hair as if in a slight breeze. Crouch on the other hand, seemed blissfully unaware as he went on about all the wonderful things their bones would make and what a wonderful offering the heir to the Potter name would make to his lord.

"You hurt her," Harry hissed, his voice low and menacing. Menacing enough to make Crouch pause in his diatribe. "You hurt my mother…"

A flicker of fear passed on Crouch's face before his arrogance and insanity returned. "And you're next boy," he cackled. He took a few steps closer toward Harry and Holly and the beast reared.

Harry whipped his wand in an arc and a bright red ribbon of light spat forth from the tip. Crouch managed to get a shield up, but it simply shattered, throwing Crouch back a good twenty feet. He landed with a thud and slid another ten before coming to a stop. Crouch staggered to his feet and wasted no time in firing a curse back at Harry.

Somewhere in his logical mind, Harry recognized the curse as a bone breaker, but he didn't care as he simply swatted the magic aside with his free hand and fired another borderline dark cutting curse back at the death eater.

Crouch's eyes widened when he recognized the spell and he dove to the side. The magic crackled past him and cleaved a tree completely in two. Crouch then looked at the fallen tree worriedly. This boy knew some rather nasty spells. It was time to break out the unforgivables. He aimed his wand and hissed, "_Crucio_!"

Harry just managed to avoid the spell, Crouch's hissing voice breaking him from his rage. Harry was momentarily disoriented. He didn't know where he was or what was going on. The last thing he remembered was his mother being felled. His mum… He sighted her fallen body on the soft grass and the rage threatened to return in force. Harry didn't know where it came from, but didn't want to experience it again. He knew he had to end this fight fast or someone was going to die.

As Harry dodged another cruciatis curse, he summoned a fallen limb from behind Crouch and wordlessly transfigured it into a pike. The spear impaled through Crouch's leg and the man howled in pain. Harry landed hard on his shoulder and felt something crack. His left arm hung useless from his shoulder now and Harry gritted his teeth against the agony. He leveled his wand again. "_Abrumpo_!"

The beam of blue light just narrowly missed Crouch as he spun out of the way, but it still clipped his right shoulder, rendering his wand arm useless. Crouch knew when he was out matched and turned to flee, only to have Harry cast a very powerful bludgeoning hex at his back that too grazed him. It didn't do much more than stagger him but it decimated a poor tree in his path.

Harry didn't bother to follow. He knew who the man was and most likely where he was going, plus he had an injury of his own to contend with. He hissed as Holly helped him to his feet. "Are you alright, Harry?" she asked.

Harry hissed in pain again. "I think I broke my shoulder…" he said weakly.

Holly gingerly prodded Harry's injury and felt for any swelling. She aspired to be a healer when she graduated from Hogwarts and knew a bit about it healing already. Harry's shoulder was nicely swollen but she didn't think it was broken and she told him as much. "You'll still need an anti-swelling draught though."

"Mum!" Harry suddenly remembered. The two of them hurried to her side and Harry let his sister do the poking and prodding to see if his mother was well. It turned out that she only had a mild concussion and would most likely have a headache when she woke. Holly cautioned against waking her though, as they might do more damage.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Harry asked in exasperation. "I can't carry her with my arm and you shouldn't do any magic." James and Sirius chose that moment to find them and Harry glanced up at their approaching forms angrily. "How nice of you to finally show up," he growled.

James didn't know who to fawn over first; Holly, Harry or his wife so he decided to pull Harry and Holly both into a hug in which he agitated Harry's shoulder. Harry hissed and James pulled away. "You're hurt?" he asked.

"I- It's nothing," Harry protested weakly. "See to Mum first."

James did so and Sirius took his place. "Are you okay, Harry?" he asked.

"He may have dislocated his shoulder in the fall," Holly explained with a worried glance at her brother. She glanced back at James who was levitating Lily's unconscious body behind him.

"Can you walk?" he asked Harry. Harry nodded and rose to his feet, careful not to jar his arm. "What happened?"

Holly showed another of her increasingly familiar personality changes and instantly went into fan girl mode. "Oh my gawd, Dad! You should have seen it. This guy cast that mark in the sky then attacked us. Mum tried to defend us but she got hit in the head with a spell. She's ok though, I think. Just a concussion but Harry…Merlin, Harry went ballistic! He started casting spells like crazy and ran the guy off…"

James interrupted her. "Good job Harry, but did you happen to see who it was?"

Harry couldn't tell his father that he knew who Barty Crouch Jr. was, so he tried to school his description into something Sirius would catch without being too blatantly obvious about it. "I think I've seen him before. I don't remember when though. Kinda looked like Mr. Crouch, but…I dunno…younger." He didn't notice he was beginning to slur his words.

Sirius for his part immediately picked up on what Harry was trying to say but was more worried that Harry looked about ready to die on his feet. "You sure you're ok Harry?" he asked worriedly.

"'M fine…why?" Harry said. Suddenly his vision blurred and he listed to the side. "Actually…I think I'm gonna lay down here for a bit…" And with that, not hearing his family's shouts of panic, Harry passed out and crumbled into a heap.

* * *

"Crouch," Voldemort hissed pleasantly. "I take it the attack went well?"

Crouch bowed low and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes. "Yes my lord. Very well. We sowed much panic."

"Then pray tell me why you are bleeding on my floor?"

Crouch winced at the tone in his lord's voice. He recognized it as the tone that promised pain should he not like his answer. But Crouch had good news for Voldemort. "I bring you news about the Potter boy."

"Potter," Voldemort said absently. "Potter…Potter…Oh yes. I remember them. Quite the thorns in my side, I do recall. What about them?"

"I dueled with the boy, my lord and he bested me."

Voldemort simply raised one thin eyebrow at his servant. "And what does this tell me other than you lost to a simple boy?" he asked dangerously.

"He was using spells far beyond what is even taught at Hogwarts, my lord," Crouch said fearfully. "And, once I felled his mother, he became enraged and his powers seemed to amplify."

Voldemort wrenched Crouch from his kneeling position and looked deeply into his mind. Fortunately for Voldemort, though he no longer had his magic, he still had the abilities of a natural Legillimens. He sifted through the mess that was Crouch's psyche and watched the battle play over again. He watched it twice before dropping Crouch back to the floor, quivering in pain. I didn't feel very nice to have your thoughts and memories forcefully viewed.

Voldemort thought on this for a good long time, while Crouch began to shake with the stress from remaining in a prone position on the floor. At last, Voldemort said, "The plans have changed slightly, Crouch. In the event you cannot lure Longbottom, I wish for Potter's name to be placed in the goblet. You may rise."

Crouch got shakily to his feet and bowed to his lord. "Yes, my Lord."

* * *

Harry woke wondering why the sun had to be so damned bright. He groaned weakly and shifted under his down comforter before coming to fully. He was a bit disoriented; unable to remember how he got here, but the events of the past night came flooding back. Harry groaned again and sat up in his bed. His entire body felt like a wet noodle and he struggled to remain upright. Suddenly he was engulfed in a mane of red hair.

"Harry, my baby," he heard someone cry into his shoulder. "Merlin, you're all right."

Harry winced a bit when his shoulder was squeezed but other than that and this thrice cursed weakness, he felt fine. "Mum, yes, I'm fine."

Lily pulled back from her son and smiled at him warmly, her eyes glistening with tears of relief. She tried to smooth his hair but it was more a reflex action than anything else. "Are you sure? The healer said you had drained most of your magical core and should be out for a week, if not more."

That gave Harry pause. "A week? How long was I out?"

"About twelve hours," Lily answered.

"What happened to me?"

Lily sat up straighter and smoothed her dressing gown. Harry recognized it as the 'professor mode' that Hermione would enter when she was explaining something. The only difference was that Lily showed a different kind of love in her eyes than Hermione.

The thought of his fiancée quashed any good feeling Harry may have had at the moment and he seemed to sag. "Short version please," he murmured.

Lily seemed to deflate but she was instantly concerned. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, dear?" she asked. She placed a hand on Harry's forehead to check for a temperature.

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "So…?"

Lily scooted closer to Harry and put her arm around him lovingly. Harry was immediately cheered up. He had never experienced the simple act of his mother embracing him and that right there was enough for him to say, 'screw going home.' "The healer said that you nearly drained your magical core. I'm proud of you by the way; for defending me and your sister."

Harry raised an eyebrow at his mother. "How?"

"You should know by now that your sister has a big mouth," Lily said playfully.

Harry had the good grace to blush and look bashful. Even as an adult, Harry never took compliments very well. "Yeah, well, either of you would have done the same…"

"In a heartbeat, though I doubt we would have done the damage you did. Where did all that come from anyway?" she asked.

_That's a good question_, Harry thought. Where did that all come from? The last time he recalled nearly draining himself was after the fight with Voldemort almost three years ago and even then, his anger never took hold of him like it did last night. "I was just…mad," he offered lamely.

"Yes, well, remind me never to make you angry then," Lily said jokingly. "Do you need to rest some more or do you want something to eat?"

Harry's stomach took that moment to growl as if saying, 'nice of you to remember me.' "Food is good."

After a quick shower, in which Harry discovered he had almost no motor control, Harry got dressed in some jeans and a tee shirt and staggered down the stairs to the dining room. Lily had whipped up a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash and kippers and a strengthening solution that Harry downed greedily. Not only was his mother's cooking excellent but he truly was that hungry. After seconds, and another rib cracking hug from his mother, Harry retreated into the muggle room to play some video games.

Dudley never did allow Harry to even look at his game systems in the other dimension. The only time Harry had ever even gotten close to one was when he found one of Dudley's broken PlayStations in the closet of his room. Harry had somehow used his magic to fix it and after nicking a game, Final Fantasy 7 from his cousin, managed to sneak it out of the house and over to Mrs. Figg's where he would play it whenever he got the chance. That was when Harry learned that he loved video games.

Harry mused that Hermione probably wouldn't like videogames and just like that Harry felt like a wet blanket had settled over him. He forgot the game he was playing and set the controller down on the floor in front of him and slowly settled into a depressed funk. His thoughts didn't go in any particular direction but eventually settled on two things: he missed her terribly and it was his own damn fault for losing her.

His self flagellation was broken when Holly plopped down on the couch next to him. "What'cha playing?" she asked happily.

Harry just grunted in reply.

"Any fun?"

Another grunt.

Holly scooted closer to her brother and leaned on his shoulder. "I never did thank you for saving us last night."

Another grunt and Holly sighed.

"Look, if you miss her that much just write her a damn letter or something."

Harry raised his eyebrows at his sister. How the hell did she know what he was brooding over? Was he that transparent? "What if…?" he began but was cut off forcefully.

"You'll never know unless you try, Harry," Holly chided. "If nothing else, you'll know for sure that she's not here and can get on with your life."

It was enough to break Harry from his depression. "You think so?" he asked. Holly nodded happily and watch Harry bolt from the room to write a letter. She picked up the discarded controller and continued the game he was playing. "Summoner, huh? Haven't played that one in a while."

Harry dashed to his room as quick as he could and nearly bowled his father over in the process. "Whoa! Watch it there kiddo."

Harry apologized and quickly went to his desk. Pulling out some parchment and a muggle pen, (Lily almost demanded that her children use them) he paused. A new dilemma presented itself; what the hell was he supposed to say? If this Hermione wasn't his Hermione, what would she do? Harry didn't want to break the statute of secrecy. As an Auror he knew exactly what kind of a sentence that brought. Still, it was worth it. If nothing else and this Hermione didn't know him or was simply some muggle girl, she would think she got a letter from some crazy. He quickly penned a short note to Hermione that wouldn't give anything away but would convey his message;

Hermione,

How are you doing? Write back if you receive this.

Harry

Harry went to the owl coop outside and the thought suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know what kind of owls his family had. No time like the present to find out, he thought. He entered the strangely clean owl coop and blinked to adjust his eyes to the sudden darkness. There were two owls in there; a large tawny owl that looked like a younger Errol and a small jittery on that reminded Harry of Pigwidgeon.

The bigger one glowered at Harry and screeched angrily at him. Ok, not that one. Harry wondered what he had done to that owl to make it dislike him so. He turned to the other one which was twitching on its perch. "Guess you'll have to do," he muttered but as he approached the small bird, it hopped away from him and looked at him fearfully. Harry sighed.

What the hell had he done to these birds to traumatize them so? "Look, I just need to send a letter to someone. Please?"

The large tawny screeched again and seemed to wake a fourth, hidden owl in the coop. Swooping down from where she was sleeping, Harry was delighted to see something familiar. "Hedwig?" he asked tentatively as the bird lit on his shoulder. The snowy owl nipped Harry's ear and head butted him affectionately. "My Hedwig?"

Hedwig glared at him as if to say, 'Duh.'

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see a familiar face…beak? Whatever. She was familiar. "How…never mind. It's good to see you girl," he said petting the bird reverently. "Want to deliver a letter for me?"

Hedwig hooted happily and stuck out her leg. Harry tied the letter to it and took Hedwig out of the building. "Take it to Hermione girl," he said as Hedwig flew off. Now all he had to do was wait.

And wait he did. Harry felt that the next day couldn't go any slower. Time seemed to drag, and every slight tap or creak that Harry heard would have him running to check the windows. Eventually, Hedwig returned. Harry let her in his bedroom window the following morning and let her drink from a glass of water as he untied the letter from the bird's leg. Hedwig looked at him almost remorsefully and Harry's stomach seemed to drop out from under him. He gingerly opened the letter and found, to his dismay, that it was the same letter he had sent out the day before.

Hermione wasn't here.

Harry went down to breakfast almost in a daze. He picked at his food absentmindedly and didn't notice the worried stares from his mother or the empathic glances from Holly. His father noticed too and placed a warm hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Girl trouble?" he asked. James had noticed Harry the previous day and seen how he was acting. He did the same thing when he was trying to woo Lily.

"Kinda," Harry murmured.

"Keep at it kiddo," James encouraged. "Remember, I managed to snag your mother in the end."

* * *

Eventually September first came and the Potter household was a flurry of activity as everyone got ready to leave for Hogwarts. Everyone seemed on edge for different reasons. James and Lily didn't tell anyone their reasons. Holly was just as excited as Harry had been to start her third year at Hogwarts. She seemed to be full of energy as she bounced on the balls of her feet by the door. She had been packed and ready to go for a week already.

Harry, however, was on edge for a completely different reason. He knew what this year entailed. The Tri-Wizard Tournament was coming to Hogwarts, and although none of the adults would say so, Harry knew. He mechanically went about his room packing his trunk. He made sure everything fit in there more organized than it was left and as he rearranged the contents he was happy to find that his father had given him the invisibility cloak as well as the map.

Soon he was ready and he dragged the heavy trunk down the stairs to meet his family at the door. They all grabbed onto a length of rope that James had made into a portkey and were wooshed away to King's Cross station.

Once on the platform, hugs were exchanged. Harry made sure to give his mother an extra long hug. Of all the things he had discovered in this dimension, his mother was probably the most pleasant of them all followed closely by his sister. He had spent most of the summer with his family and now that they expected him to go back to Hogwarts, he didn't want to go. The fact that he already knew the course work had nothing to do with it.

Harry eventually got round to saying goodbye to Sirius and his godfather dragged him away from the Potters for a moment. "Harry," he said. "I know you met her at dinner that night but I don't think Amanda has had the chance to meet you."

Harry raised a curious eyebrow at Sirius. "What?"

Sirius laughed and said, "Amanda, love, this is Harry…_my_ Harry."

The slightly vacant look never left the blonde woman's face as she swept Harry into a hug. "It was so nice of you to come after Padfoot," she gushed.

"Uh…what?" Harry said trying to extricate himself from Amanda's embrace. He was rather confused at this point and just wanted to get on the train.

Sirius laughed again. "She knows everything Harry, remember?" Sirius explained. "I mentioned it to Holly at our reunion."

Pulling away from the grabby woman, Harry blinked at the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. "Ooooh. Okay."

"My Paddy always talked about you," Amanda said. "It's nice to finally meet the man who my husband was so fond of."

Harry couldn't help but smile at that comment. Amanda didn't see him as a fourteen year old. She could see and understand that he had already lived twenty two years. "It's nice to meet the woman that's willing to put up with that immature prat," Harry snarked.

"Hey!"

Amanda laughed. It was a light musical sound and Harry found that he could listen to her laugh all day. "Well you'd better get going. I know you can't wait to get back to those riveting classes," she said with a smile. Then as Harry was going back to his family for a few more goodbyes, (Lily insisted) she added, "Don't worry. You'll find what you seek. Soon."

Harry pondered that last sentence at least until his mother began showering him with kisses. Feeling properly embarrassed, he pulled away and smiled at his mother. "You behave this year, young man," she chided him.

"Yes mother," he said. Holly giggled at him and Lily turned her attention on Holly. James took that opportunity to pull Harry aside.

"Make sure to give the Slytherins a good pranking at the opening feast," he whispered. "I put a potion in your trunk that will make them all look like Snivellus."

Harry had to laugh at his father's boyish humor. "Will do, dad," He said between laughs.

A few more kisses from his mother and Harry finally managed to board the train. It was then, as the train began to pull away, that Harry found himself clueless. He had listened to Holly tell him all about his 'history' but didn't think he could face yet another, if extra, year at Hogwarts without his friends. Harry's thoughts progressively became darker and more depressing as he wandered from compartment to compartment looking for an empty one.

Unfortunately he never found one but he did find the compartment that his sister was in when she opened the door and dragged him bodily in. After she helped him hoist his trunk into an overhead compartment, she poked his shoulder and laughed, "Like trying to get away from an octopus, huh?"

Harry chuckled and figured Holly was talking about his mother. "You owe me one," he groused good naturedly. A chorus of greetings came from the occupants and Harry returned them while taking his seat. He took stock of who was in the compartment with him. In the window seats sat the Weasley twins who were chatting in hushed tones with Dean Thomas about some prank they were planning on pulling. Dean smiled at him when they made eye contact before huddling back in with the twins.

Sitting between him and one of the twins was his sister who was listening raptly to the twins and Dean's conversation while putting in a few of her own ideas. Sitting directly across from him was Michelle Black. When he met her glance she blushed and suddenly found the book she had been reading very interesting.

Harry inwardly groaned. He could see where this could get out of hand. Michelle seemed to act just like Ginny did before she got over her crush. While Michelle was beautiful, Harry figured that it would take some time to get over Hermione before he was ready to date again. It didn't help that where he was mentally twenty two, Michelle was mentally and physically thirteen. He only hoped that she never put her elbow in the butter dish.

"Harry?" someone asked.

"Yeah?"

It was George that spoke next. "So, my esteemed brother and I had an idea over the summer. Dean seems to be okay with it, and we just needed to see if you would want to go along." Harry motioned for George to continue but Fred did instead. Harry found that to be amusing if irritating at times.

"We want to be come animagi."

Needless to say, everyone in the compartment but Harry was confused when Holly suddenly cracked up. The twins looked at her like she had grown a second head, Dean looked confused and Michelle looked like she wanted to bolt.

"What?" Fred asked.

Harry took pity on his sister and answered. "I already know how…" Harry said softly.

The compartment was completely silent except for Holly's snickers before the three other boys seemed to start speaking at once. Harry managed to get the gist of it; they wanted to see. "Fine, fine, make room," he said wearily.

Everyone cleared a space while Harry pulled the blinds closed on the window door, and then suddenly there was a shaggy black wolf in the middle of the compartment.

"Bloody brilliant that is!" George crowed. Dean applauded and Fred seemed to be a little jealous. Holly just scratched him behind the ear which caused Harry's tail to wag. But it was Michelle's reaction that caught Harry off guard.

"Ooh, how pretty."

Harry swung his head around and looked Michelle in the eyes. She seemed to freeze up before tentatively patting Harry on the head. Then she turned bright red and buried herself in her book. Harry sighed inwardly again.

Dean and the twins went back to discussing plans to become animagi. Harry decided to keep his mouth shut about the potion. It was enough that he promised his sister some but didn't want to brew enough for three or four other people too.

The train lurched suddenly and began to move away from the station. Everyone crowded around the window to wave one last goodbye before retaking their seats. It was then that Harry felt something tickle in the back of his mind. He couldn't place his finger on it, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

The conversation in the cab turned to what was happening this year. It seemed that most people had heard of an event but hadn't heard any specifics. Harry stayed out of the conversations for the most part. He didn't want to ruin the surprise, even if it was most likely going to go south later in the year.

Still, Harry had a feeling, that tickle in the back of his mind, and he felt excited for some reason. Then, all sound stopped for him. He stood up and rushed out into the corridor.

There, with her back turned to him, stood none other than Hermione.

She seemed to be lost, much like he was. Harry tried to call out to her but suddenly found his mouth to be very dry. Hermione stopped and glanced in a compartment allowing Harry to catch up with her. Harry reached out to touch her shoulder, slowly as if she would vanish if he hurried. He made contact and Hermione whirled around, her eyes widening when she saw him. "Harry?" she asked softly.

Harry's throat was still dry, so he simply nodded happily and pulled his fiancée into a warm embrace. They held each other for a long time, neither of them noticing the sad blonde haired girl reenter her compartment.


	4. Once more into the breach

**A/N:** Now beta'd, since he's _finally_ pulled his finger out! (That was Seel'vor…not me…)

Hermione looked just like Harry had remembered her from his fifth year, save her hair, which was a little tamer than before. Her front teeth were slightly over-large, but Harry didn't care. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful creature in the world.

Harry and Hermione didn't return to the compartment with the rest of their friends. Instead, they chose to find another empty compartment and get 'reacquainted' with each other. Eventually, however, they arrived in Hogsmeade and had to stop to get in a carriage bound for the school. It was a tight fit with the Weasley twins, Dean, Michelle and Holly, (who all wanted to know where they got off to), but they made room for themselves. Harry introduced Hermione as a friend he had made over the summer. She was a late discovery and was just starting at Hogwarts, which was the truth from the abridged story Hermione had given Harry. The others seemed to accept that, and Hermione, well enough.

Harry did his best not to draw attention to Hermione and himself by needlessly touching or looking at her, but it was hard. He had just gotten over thinking that he would never see her again. It never occurred to him that half their train car saw him drag her into a vacant compartment to snog. Still, Harry couldn't keep his eyes off of his fiancée for long and was torn between looking at her or the Thestral pulling their carriage.

Eventually, their carriage pulled up to the front steps, prompting them all to spill out and file into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast. Harry paused to summon a house elf, much to Hermione's consternation. He gave the little elf the potion that his father had given him with the instructions to put it in the Slytherin's drinks. He pointedly ignored Hermione's disapproving look.

They all sat together, save for Michelle who wandered off and sat at the Ravenclaw table, next to Luna Lovegood. In his daze, Harry had failed to notice that the girl was a Ravenclaw. He vowed to watch her more closely. If she was smart enough to be sorted into Ravenclaw, she might figure things out on her own.

Harry also noticed that both the seats for the DADA professor and the Muggle Studies professor were empty. He knew why the DADA chair was unoccupied, but for the life of him couldn't remember if or _why_ the Muggle Studies professor was gone. Hell, he didn't even know _who _the professor was...

Harry took the time waiting on the first years to fill Hermione in on everything he had learned and was surprised to learn that she was almost completely in the dark. Her eyes filled with pity and she glanced over at Neville when Harry told her that Neville was the 'Boy-Who-Lived' here. Hermione seemed transfixed by something so Harry followed her gaze. She was staring at Ron Weasley who was chatting animatedly with Neville.

"Things are so different here." Hermione whispered. "I mean, look at Ron over there. He looks..." She trailed off as she fumbled for some way to describe her observations.

"Like Malfoy?" Harry finished for her. Hermione nodded. "Tell me about it. The Weasleys are _so _different here." He said. "With the exception of the twins, and Percy, Charlie and Bill who I haven't met yet. Ron is like some freakish Malfoy clone, and his parents remind me of the Dursleys..."

Hermione rubbed Harry's back comfortingly as he shuddered. "Are you supposed to be friends with him here?" she asked.

Harry shook his head but didn't have the chance to say anything else as the first years were lead in by McGonagall. It suddenly occurred to Harry to ask Hermione a question. "Hey, why aren't you with them?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry in annoyance. "Because they don't sort transfer students with the first years." she said huffily. "I was sorted when McGonagall came to introduce me and my family to the magical world."

Harry opened his mouth to say something but Hermione shushed him and put her hand on his thigh. "Quiet, I want to watch the Sorting. I'll tell you later."

Harry obediently shut his mouth and watched the sorting. It went almost exactly like he remembered so he turned his attention back to the twins who were whispering back and forth. He waved Dean over and the four of them huddled over the table. "Watch the Slytherin table when the feast starts," he said in a barely audible whisper. The other three boys nodded eagerly.

Soon enough, the sorting ended and according to Hermione, all the students went into the houses they did previously in their dimension. Dumbledore stood up to start the feast. "I have some very important news for this term..." the aged man began sombrely before dropping the act and smiling. "But first, let us eat."

With that, he clapped his hands and the tables were loaded with food. It had been four years since Harry had his last Hogwarts meal, and he had forgotten just how good the food at the ancient school was. He dug in with a gusto that Ron would have been hard pressed to match, though Harry ate considerably less. He glanced at Hermione to see her eating just as eagerly, though a lot slower.

"Who do you figure the new DADA professor is going to be, Harry?" Dean asked.

The question caught him off guard and he nearly choked on the bite of roast he had been chewing on. Hermione patted him on the back and handed him his goblet of pumpkin juice which he gratefully took. When he had cleared his throat, he shrugged. "I have no clue, honestly. Could be anyone. I just hope they're not _mad._" He put as much emphasis on the last word without sounding too mad himself. He looked over and caught Hermione's eye.

"Moody?" she mouthed. Harry nodded, and noticed the colour drain from Hermione's face. He could only imagine what she was thinking; perhaps that she didn't want to go through another nightmare either.

As they all finished eating, a murmuring laughter spread across the Great Hall mixed in with cries of outrage. "What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"That would me my start of term prank, Hermione." Harry said self-importantly. Hermione frowned at him and Harry hastened to explain. "My dad gave me a potion to spike the Slytherin's drinks with. It should have given them all lank greasy hair and hooked noses like Snivellus." Harry stood up to check and saw they snake's features morphing. "Yep. It worked."

At the mention of Harry's father Hermione's disapproving look softened a bit but she still looked torn. "Still, Harry..."

Harry caught a glance of his sister who was trying to stifle her giggles and the twins who were guffawing. "Oh come on, 'Mione!" he pleaded. Then he added in a soft whisper. "Let's try and enjoy it this time around. I mean, it's not like we are going to have to struggle through our classes or anything..."

Hermione's frown finally changed into a grin. "Fine then, Potter." She said haughtily. "But next time, I want in."

This was the last thing he expected his fiancée to say, and his gobsmacked expression showed it. He quickly recovered though. "I don't know..." he said slowly. "I mean, I'll have to ask Messers Weasley, Weasley and Thomas what they think." Then in a stage whisper. "She's _really_ smart..."

While Dean and the twins made a show of considering Hermione, Harry was distracted by a commotion at the head table. Snape shot to his feet upon noticing that his house had been changed to resemble him. "Potter!" he barked glaring in Harry's direction. Harry shrugged but that only made Snape angrier if his pale face was any indication. "I know it was you!" he seethed.

Dumbledore came to Harry's rescue. "Calm down, Severus." he soothed. "You have no proof that Mr. Potter is a fault." Judging by the twinkle in his eyes, Harry was sure that the headmaster did know it was his fault. He knew that the house elves reported _everything_ to Dumbledore. "Besides, it was all in good fun."

"'Good fun'?" the greasy man nearly shouted. "My students could be permanently disfigured because of this 'good fun'." Harry couldn't hold in his laughter at the thought of Snape thinking of his own features as 'disfigured'. From the sounds of it, neither could the most of the students. Even Hermione was stifling her giggles behind her hand.

"I am sure they will be fine." Dumbledore placated. "In fact, if I am correct, the potion should be wearing off right about... now."

Sure enough, the Slytherin's features slowly morphed back into their own. Harry noticed that a lot of them were glaring his way. _Oh, well..._ he thought sardonically. _Best watch my back for a while._

When the chatter resumed, one of the twins, George Harry thought, leaned over and took Hermione's hand. "We have decided," he said pompously, "we humbly accept Ms..."

"Granger." Harry supplied.

"Granger, into the ranks of the Neo Marauders."

_So we _are_ Marauders._ Harry thought. Hermione blushed as George kissed the back of her hand and Harry had to fight down the urge to hex George off his seat.

"Thank you, gentlemen." Hermione said, hamming it up. "Ms. Granger humbly accepts your invitation."

They all laughed at their antics then Harry had an idea. "You know, since we're going for Animagus forms, perhaps we should have codenames, like the original Marauders did."

They all discussed what they hoped their forms would be and names to go along with them. Remembering that Dean was Muggleborn, Harry cracked the joke that the twins should be Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, and got laughs out of both Dean and Hermione. Predictably, neither of the twins knew what Harry was talking about and none of them were about to enlighten the twins.

Hermione didn't inform the other three as to her form, instead playing along that she hoped her form would be a fox.

"Well," Dean said, "I don't care what my form is, so long as I have one. We all have a lot of work to catch up with Harry."

Hermione caught Harry's eyes and lifted her eyebrows as if to say, 'you told them?'Harry simply nodded slightly.

Eventually, conversation started to die down and Dumbledore took the opportunity to clear the tables with a wave of his wand and stood up. "Now that we are pleasantly fed..." he began. Snape continued to try and kill Harry with his eyes, and Harry wondered why he was immediately blamed for the prank. "I will give the start of term announcements.

"First, all students should know that the Forbidden Forest is off limits." he said, with a very pointed look at Harry's group. "There is a reason why we call it 'forbidden'. Second, there have been twenty four new items added to Mr. Filch's banned item list. He has it posted on his office door should you deign to read it.

"Third," he continued, "beyond the first years, we have a new student who has been pre-sorted into Gryffindor. Everyone welcome Miss Hermione Granger to Hogwarts." Harry could almost feel the heat of Hermione's blush as everyone but the Slytherins politely applauded for her. She tried to shrink away but Harry laughingly put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.

Dumbledore's mood quickly turned sombre but before he had the chance to say anything the doors to the great hall burst open and Mad-Eye Moody came stumping in, sopping wet from the storm outside. He whipped his head back and forth, glaring at and thoroughly intimidating all the students. He stopped up at the head table by Dumbledore and gave him a brief hug. Harry watched the grizzled old Auror while he greeted the rest of the teachers and took his place at the head table. Dumbledore quieted the students. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor Moody."

There was a smattering of applause but it was in general subdued. Harry continued to scrutinise Mad-eye until he felt a nudge at his side. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Crouch?" she mouthed.

Harry shook his head slightly and tuned Dumbledore out while the Headmaster announced the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "I don't think so." he whispered quietly. Hermione looked sceptical. "Look, I've worked with the man for three years now. I know how he acts, and that is a much better act than Crouch pulled off."

Harry then noticed that everyone was focused on him and Hermione. "If Mr. Potter and Miss Granger don't mind, I will continue with the rules." Dumbledore said sternly. Both Harry and Hermione ducked their heads and blushed. Harry waved the headmaster on, but wondered where Crouch Senior was. The Head of International Magical Co-operation had been the one to announce the rules last time.

"Due to the danger the Tournament represents," Dumbledore said, "no-one under the age of seventeen will be allowed to place their name in the cup." He paused and waited while the uproar quieted. "Those eligible have until October 30th to submit their names. Drawings to announce the champions will be held on the 31st, after the Halloween feast. Now, it has been a long and eventful night, and we all need our rest for lessons tomorrow."

Dumbledore dismissed the students and Harry took it upon himself to 'show' Hermione where Gryffindor tower was so they would have a chance to talk. "Poor Neville." he said.

"Neville?" Hermione asked. "So he really is the 'Boy-Who-Lived' here? I didn't really get a good look at him and I was never told anything."

Harry nodded. "From what my sister tells me, he's a bit of an arrogant ponce."

"Sister?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.

Harry felt excited to talk about his family but he stopped. There were too many people that could eavesdrop. An idea spawned in his mind and he leaned over to whisper it to Hermione. "Meet me in the common room at eleven tonight. We'll sneak out under my cloak to the Room of Requirement and talk about everything there."

Hermione nodded but the paused with a thoughtful expression on her face. "How do you know the room will even be there?" she asked.

He hadn't thought about that. "I don't." he said. "But we can find out. If nothing else, I have the map and we can find a hidden passage to talk in."

When they got to the common room, everyone bid goodnight to one another. Harry gave his sister a hug and Hermione a longer one. It was hard, now that he had her back, not wishing her goodnight 'properly', but he managed.

He hurried up to the dorm, making sure that he was the first one there, and extracted the map and invisibility cloak from his trunk, which the elves had placed at the foot of his bed. He noticed that there were five beds in the dorm and idly wondered where Seamus was.

He shrugged to himself. It wasn't important right now.

He sat on the edge of his bed and activated the map. He hadn't had the chance to study it since he had arrived in this reality and now was as good a time as any. He spoke the password, watching as the map slowly filled in the lines of the castle and Harry was relieved to see that the basic structure of Hogwarts was the same as his dimension.

Hearing someone coming up the stairs, he hurriedly deactivated the map and stuffed both it and his cloak under his pillow. He made a big show of getting his sleep wear from his trunk as Dean came in the room with Neville and Ron hot on his heels.

"_Why_ do you care, Weasley?" Dean snapped as he entered the dorm.

"I just want to know who she is!" Ron said back just as nastily.

"I'll ask Potter." Neville said.

"Ask me what?" Harry asked slowly, looking up at the 'Braggart-Who-Lived' and his redheaded minion.

"Who was the bushy haired girl today?" Neville asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew that if he blew Neville off things might go badly. "You heard her name at the feast." he said shortly.

"Yes," Neville said, rolling _his_ eyes, "but _who _is she? You two seemed really friendly with each other."

Harry decided then and there that he didn't like this pushy arrogant Neville. "That's because she's my _friend_." he nearly growled. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Neville put his hands up, hoping to placate the suddenly-irate Harry. "Just curious, is all." He went over to his bunk, pulling out his sleeping clothes. Ron, however, wasn't done.

"Why don't you tell us about her?" he demanded. "Is she half-blood or pureblood?" Dean snorted but Ron ignored him. "Does she have a boyfriend?"

Harry surveyed Ron through narrowed eyes before answering. "She's spoken for, Weasley." he hissed. He knew that Hermione would have been able to fend Ron off easy enough, but something inside of him demanded that he claim and defend her. "And for your information she's Muggleborn, but she's a better mage than you'll ever be."

When Ron's lip curled in disdain, Harry snapped. "Wipe that look of your face, you arsewipe! You look like Malfoy."

While Ron and Neville went to their side of the room muttering mutinously, Dean came over to speak to Harry. "Thanks for standing up for us Muggleborns, mate." he said sincerely.

Harry waved it off. "My mum's a Muggleborn and she frightens me sometimes." he said truthfully. Her display of magical prowess at the fiasco after the world cup was awe-inspiring. "Besides, I think those monikers are stupid, outdated bullshit."

"Still... thanks."

The rest of the night leading up to the rendezvous went uneventfully with Harry pretending to fall asleep. Seamus came in at about ten and promptly passed out. As soon as eleven o'clock ran around, Harry whipped his cloak around him and snuck out of the room. He was relieved to see that Hermione was the only one in the common room. She was waiting patiently, if angrily, on one of the overstuffed armchairs. "'Mione?" he whispered, taking the cloak off.

To her credit she didn't even flinch. "I can't believe the nerve of those... girls! They wouldn't stop questioning me!" she seethed. She changed her voice into a mocking high pitched whine. "'Your hair is lovely! How did you get your skin complexion so smooth! I _love _your shoes...' They didn't want to know about _me_, just my looks. _Honestly_, were Lavender and Parvati always that shallow?"

"Well... your hair _does_ look good." Harry said cheekily.

To her credit, Hermione blushed. "Shut up, you!" She said playfully. She embraced Harry as he threw the cloak over them both. "Let's go."

The two of them made their way to the seventh floor and the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. When Harry emerged from the cloak, Barnabus managed to extract himself from the rampaging trolls long enough to say, "Young man, you aren't supposed to be out after curfew." Harry took a moment to turn the tapestry around so that it faced the wall and all they could hear was Barnabus' muffled protestations. Hermione giggled.

Harry paced back and forth in front of the blank wall thinking, _I need a place where Hermione and I can talk uninterrupted,_ over and over again. The third time he passed the wall, a door appeared and stood proudly as if it had always been there. It was different than before however. Instead of being an iron wrought oak door like before, it was made of mahogany. _Of all the things to be different._ Harry thought.

Harry opened the door and peered into the room. It looked like the living area of the flat he and Hermione had been renting over Muggle London. Smiling to himself, he stepped in and held the door open for his fiancée. Hermione took the cloak off as she stepped in, and as soon as Harry had shut the door, she grabbed him by his tee-shirt and bodily flung him down on the couch. Harry landed on his back with an 'oof'. He was surprised, pleasantly so, when Hermione all but pounced on top of him and proceeded to snog him senseless.

Hermione reluctantly pulled away while Harry continued trailing kisses down her exposed neck. "You have no idea how much I needed that, Mr. Potter." she sighed. "I just wish we could do more."

Harry stopped kissing her and lay back on the couch and raised an eyebrow at her. "No more than I do, Mrs. Potter." he said. He almost whimpered when Hermione got off from on top of him and straightened out her night clothes, but shut up when she sat down and cuddled up next to him. He wrapped an arm around her slight shoulders.

"So, tell me everything." she said.

Harry excitedly told Hermione everything about his family and the events so far. Hermione was a very good audience gasping and making appropriate 'aw' noises in all the right places. She was just as happy as Harry was to have Sirius back. She suggested that Harry send Sirius a letter telling him that Harry had found her, and he agreed he'd do it first thing in the morning. Harry talked about his sister with such joy that Hermione thought he was fit to burst. His voice hitched when he spoke about thinking that he would never find Hermione again.

Hermione smiled warmly and kissed Harry softly on the edge of his jaw. "I love you too, Harry." She said. "Why didn't you send me a letter?"

"I tried!" Harry exclaimed. "But Hedwig returned it unopened."

Hermione hugged Harry tighter. "Silly. That's because you were sending her to Muggles. She didn't know if we had been introduced to the magical world or not. It would have broken the statute of secrecy if we hadn't been."

Harry shook his head. "But she knows you." When Hermione raised an eyebrow questioningly Harry explained. "She's _my _Hedwig. She knows who I am."

Hermione giggled. "Of course she does. She's your familiar. But she didn't know if _I_ had been introduced to the magical world yet. What if I hadn't been... well... me? She knew better than to deliver the letter," Hermione explained.

"Oh..." Harry said sheepishly. He was a ministry Auror. He should have known that. "Now I feel dumb."

Hermione had an impish smile on her face. "You could have sent a letter by Muggle post." she said poking Harry in the ribs. "You know where I lived."

Harry stuck his tongue out at her and she kissed him. "What about you?" he asked. "What happened when you got here?"

She sighed. "Well..."

* * *

_**Flashback:**__ The Granger Residence_

_Summer preceding fourth year..._

_Hermione sat bolt upright in her bed with a small scream__, before slapping her hand over her mouth to muffle it. The last thing she remembered was Harry trying to pull her out of the Veil of Death, then a lot of pain. She remembered thinking that this wasn't the way she wanted to go. But she wasn't dead. Evidently, the veil had worked. Once again, she had to muffle her shrieks, only this time they were shrieks of joy. _It worked!

_It took her a moment to recognise where she was. It was her old bedroom at her parents' house, but things were different. For one, there were fewer bookshelves lining the walls in this room. Before she moved in with Harry, her room looked like a small library with hundreds of books lining the shelves. She'd even had to cast space expansion charms on the cases themselves to make room for more books since her parents didn't want her expanding her room. That's not to say that there weren't a lot of books in this room. They were just fewer in number._

_Another difference was the disarray of the room in general. Dirty clothes and loose sheets of paper littered the floor, and posters of various boy bands covered her walls. On her desk were scattered books and even more sheets of paper. Her closet door was slightly ajar and she could see various outfits that she would never have worn before._

_She could almost hear Harry's voice telling her, '__When in an unfamiliar environment; get to know your surroundings' __first. So, that was what she was going to do. She tentatively rolled out of bed and began to explore her room. Her first observation was correct. It _was_ her room, but a version of her where she was either more popular or at least more fashion conscious. But one thing disturbed her; not only could she _not_ find her wand, but none of her books were magical either. Nor could she find the sneak-o-scope or trunk. If anything, her room was one of a completely ordinary Muggle girl._

_A young girl, but a normal Muggle one. _

_Hermione wondered just why she was in the room of a young teenage girl and decided to look at herself in the mirror that adorned her dresser. For the second time that morning, she had to stifle a scream. She was wearing _lingerie_. Her night clothes seemed to consist of a black and violet light silk baby doll, and matching French cut panties. She felt mortified, but she couldn't deny that she looked _good_. The blush only increased when she thought about what Harry would think if he saw her now. She could picture him drooling in abject lust. Her blush increased further as she pictured his physiological reaction..._

_N__ot only was she dressed differently, read: _very_ differently, she was young again! Not that she was _old_ when she entered the Veil, a mere twenty one. Nor was she really _young,_ so to speak. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen... Realising that she was rambling to herself, she forced herself to focus._

_She had theori__sed that other dimensions might have been a few years ahead or behind hers, but she didn't even stop to think that if she travelled to one, her body would age or regress to match. And why exactly was she in her room? Had she taken the place of the Hermione that was native to this reality? It was a horrible thought, and one she didn't want to pursue right now._

_Regardless, she had obviously taken better care of herself here. Her hair was well kept, despite just waking up. It was devoid of its usual bushiness and felt soft. Her skin was tanned and smooth and underneath her 'sleepwear' she could tell that she worked out a bit. She decided that as long as she was here, she would keep up with appearances. She would need to fit in perfectly in order to keep suspicion of herself to a minimum._

_Then, a sudden thought gripped her and she nearly panicked. What if she was a Muggle? She waved her hand at a pile of clothes and said, "_Plicaro_." To her relief, the clothes folded themselves and stacked neatly on her floor. The silly thought of, _Oh, thank Merlin, Buddha and the tooth fairy!_ crossed her mind._

_Hermione sat down on her bed, ignoring what she was wearing, and started to put her facts in order._

_In this dimension, she was not a practicing witch, or at least, it appeared so._

_She cared more about her appearance and self-image than knowledge and learning if the lack of bookshelves were anything to go by._

_She was still magical, but had no wand._

_Despite caring about her looks, she was a bit of a slob and rather disorganised._

_Once she had her thoughts in order and the barest hint of a plan to go by, she decided to head out of her room and discover the rest of her family. First thing was first though; she needed to get showered and dressed. Once she had gathered her clothes; faded blue jeans and a loose white tee-shirt (and a _sensible_ set of underwear) she headed into the shower. She was relieved to find out that the upper floor of her childhood home wasn't any different here._

_After taking a long, relaxing shower, Hermione hurriedly got dressed and headed downstairs into the kitchen. The bottom floor was the same as before, she was happy to find out, and her mother was busy at the stove making breakfast. She took a deep breath and smelled French toast. "Morning, Mum." she said._

_Emma Granger jumped and squeaked in fright. "Lord, Hermione, you startled me." Hermione couldn't suppress her giggle._

"_Sorry, Mum." she said. "French toast?"_

"_Mmm__-hmm." her mother responded. "It's almost ready, too. Go and wake your sister." Hermione nearly choked on the air she was breathing. As it was she had a coughing fit. Her sister was _alive_ here?_

_As her mother slapped her on the back, misinterpreted her tears as being caused by her choking, Hermione remembered her sister. Harmony Granger had died of pneumonia at the age of four when Hermione was eight. Harmony's death had destroyed Hermione and she had slipped into a depression that had nearly killed her. It was only by throwing herself into her studies that Hermione was able to come out of her funk. Now, the mention that her sister was alive dredged up old, painful memories in her._

"_Are you okay, dear?" her mother asked. Hermione nodded and stood after clearing her throat and wiping her eyes. "Go wake her up, then. Oh, and when you're done, your papers for Eton showed up in the post."_

But Eton is a _boy's_ school._ Hermione thought. She banished that thought. She had a sister to reacquaint herself with._

_Hermione went up the stairs slowly; thinking about what she would say when she saw her sister. She hadn't ever really had the chance to know Harmony and she wondered just how her baby sister had changed over the years. What was she like? Had she maintained her love of sport, since she was showing _serious _aptitude before died? Was she a bookworm like big sister Hermione? She found her feet carrying her to her sister's room, which was in the same place here._

_She opened the door slowly and peered into the room. It was decorated with football memorabilia and was just as messy as Hermione's was. It seemed that the ten year old had a thing for the West Ham football team. She stood there for a few more minutes before a small giggle jolted her from her thoughts._

"_Are you going to wake me up today or are you going to stand there like some creepy stalker?" Harmony taunted from her bed._

_Hermione couldn't help but smile as she walked to the bed. "Well, I suppose I could wake you up... you aren't ticklish, are you?" she asked. Truthfully, she didn't know. When Harmony was a baby, her ribs had been so very ticklish, but now... however, if Harmony's panicked squeak was any indication, she was. "If you don't get up, I'm going to tickle you until you do." Hermione threatened playfully._

_Harmony squeaked again and Hermione dove in, tickling her sister's ribs mercilessly until Harmony begged for her to stop. She did and let Harmony come out from under her blanket. Hermione noticed that she was crying again and wiped her eyes._

"_Oh, 'Mione, did I hurt you?" Harmony asked._

_Hermione shook her head no. "These are happy tears, 'Mony," she said. She gratefully accepted her sister's hug._

"_So, so, I had this _awesome_, dream," Harmony gushed as soon as she pulled away from the hug. Neither girl made any move to get off the bed just yet; instead they basked in each other's presence. "You and I were _witches_. We could cast all sorts of spells like levitating things and changing one thing into another, and you could turn into a fox."_

_Hermione's eyes widened almost comically. "Really?" she asked. Harmony nodded and smiled widely. "What else happened?" Hermione felt compelled to ask._

"_There was this nasty wizard that looked like a snake. You beat him and became a hero."_

_Hermione licked her suddenly dry lips. "Just me?" she asked. Harmony shook her head._

"_No, there was this other boy. He had black hair and was _really strong!_" she said. "He could turn into a dragon!"_

_Hermione's hopes were both crushed and lifted at the same time. On one hand, her sister might be a witch. She hadn't been here for any accidental magic, but if her dreams were prophetic, it was a sure sign of magical ability. It also meant that she _saw_ the fight between Harry and Voldemort. But Harry didn't turn into a dragon; he was a wolf. "Wouldn't it be brilliant if we _were_ witches?" she asked._

_Harmony nodded. "Girls!" Emma called._

"_Oh, breakfast is ready. French toast."_

_Harmony took off from her bed and bolted down stairs, not bothering to cover her pyjamas. At least the ten year old wasn't wearing anything similar to what Hermione had woken up in. The thought of her night-time ensemble still made Hermione blush fiercely. She remained on Harmony's bed for a few minutes longer while she formulated a plan._

_As a Ministry employee, she'd learned that the Ministry tracked underage magic by a tracking charm that was placed on all the wands that were sold to eleven year olds. For those children that inherited a wand, such as the Weasleys, the Ministry required the child's parents to re-register the wand with the Department of Underage Sorcery so they could place a fresh charm on it._

_Hermione didn't have a wand__, but she _did_ have wandless magic. The Ministry's tracking system picked up any and all Underage magic, primarily accidental magic. It was one of the ways that Muggleborn students were identified and contacted prior to starting Hogwarts._

_It was purely by accident when Hermione had found out that wandless magic registered as accidental magic on the __Ministry sensor array. Her plan was to cast as much discreet wandless magic as she could until the Ministry noticed and dispatched a representative to 'introduce' the household to the Wizarding world. It was a clever... nay, _flawless _plan._

_Or so she thought._

_Breakfast went normally, with the notable exception of Hermione subtly casting charms to keep the food warm or change the colour of the magnets on the refrigerator. She had expected the Ministry to show up immediately after her first couple of spells. But they didn't. As the day wore on, and lunch time passed, Hermione started casting less and less subtle magic. Normally patient, Hermione was starting to become frustrated. After the ministry's reform, things ran a lot smoother. _But,_ she reminded herself, __the Ministry probably hadn't reformed here yet._

_She vowed to try harder._

_That night at dinner, she pulled out all the stops. Harmony was helping her mother set the table while Hermione was catching up on the politics of the times. Her _tempus_ charm earlier in the day had told her that the year was 1994 so she was curious to learn all she could. She kept one eye on the kitchen, however, so she would know when Harmony was on her way to the table with the roast. She discretely cast a weight-enhancing charm so that Harmony would struggle slightly with the dish and give Hermione an excuse to help her. Then, as Harmony neared the table, Hermione cast a tripping hex that would have left Harmony sprawling had Hermione not reacted._

"_No!" Hermione shouted as she held her hands out and silently cast a levitation charm. She put all the power she could into it, causing Harmony and the roast to become suspended in mid air. If this didn't get the Ministry's attention, nothing would._

_The entire family was in the kitchen at this point.__ They were all silent for different reasons. Dan and Emma because they didn't know what to think, Hermione because she was suddenly worried about what her parents were thinking, and Harmony because she was afraid to say anything lest Hermione put her back down, and end the fun. The young girl was having a blast._

_Hermione levitated the roast to the table and set Harmony on her feet again. "Oh, my..." she said, faking surprise. Her sister pouted slightly, then danced around the kitchen._

"_That was bloody awesome, 'Mione!" she crowed. Her swearing was enough to break their mother out of her stupor._

"_Harmony Leanne Granger! Language!" she scolded. Harmony didn't even let it faze her._

"_I knew you had magical powers, 'Mione!" Harmony gushed. "I wonder if I do..." Hermione did too, honestly, so when Harmony scrunched her face up cutely and concentrated on her plate at the table, Hermione hoped for anything to happen. She wasn't disappointed._

_The plate shattered into thousands of pieces that rocketed about the kitchen. The Grangers, minus Hermione, all screamed and covered their heads. But when they looked again, the shards of porcelain were hovering about the kitchen. With a thought, Hermione directed them to the table where she wordlessly repaired the plate._

_The mood was tense at this point, save for Harmony who was nearly giddy with excitement. Dan broke the mood when he clapped his hands and proclaimed, "Let's eat then."_

_After dinner, the mood returned as they gathered in the sitting room to discuss what had happened as a family. The Grangers revealed that Hermione had always been doing strange things like that, such as repairing broken glasses or levitating things. It had happened more frequently when she was a baby, and stopped after she turned eleven. They had been glad that it had stopped since they couldn't explain it._

_The tense mood returned but was broken when a tawny owl flew in Hermione's bedroom window, which she had left open for just that reason, and downstairs to drop a letter at Emma's feet.__ She screamed and the owl flew back out of the house the way it entered. Hermione was silently cheering that her plan had worked. _

_Emma opened the parchment envelope with shaking hands then promptly shrieked and dropped it when it began to read it self out loud. _

To Whom It May Concern:

The Ministry for Magic has detected multiple bursts of accidental magic in your residence. As you are Muggles, you most likely do not know that magic exists, thus we will be dispatching a representative to explain events to you. They and another representative from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will arrive at your house at promptly noon tomorrow.

Sincerely yours,

Mafalda Hopkirk

* * *

_Just like the letter had said, _literally,_ at noon, Mafalda Hopkirk herself arrived with Professor McGonagall. Hermione watched the two women appear at the end of their walk and approach the house. She had a hard time not rushing down to greet the woman she considered her mentor. Amazingly enough, the witches rang the doorbell instead of barging right in. "I'll get it!" Hermione called. She left the sitting room to answer the door. She did her best look contrite and confused. "Hello?"_

"_Hello, dear." McGonagall greeted. "My name is Professor McGonagall and this is Mrs. Hopkirk. We're here to meet with your parents. Are they in?"_

_Hermione nodded and let the women in before guiding them into the sitting room where her parents were watching the telly. "Mum, Dad? The people from the letter are here."_

_Dan and Emma shared a look between them and Emma turned to Hermione. "Hermione, love, go get your sister. You two need to be here for this, I think."_

_Hermione nodded and went to fetch her sister, who with in her room playing some dolls. It seemed that Harmony wasn't as much of a tomboy as Hermione had first thought. She and her sister tromped back down the stairs to find their parents and the two witches in the middle of a conversation._

"_Witches?" Dan said in disbelief. "Aren't they... you know. Ugly and green?"_

"_That is a common misconception," Mafalda said, "and witches and wizards age remarkably well too. Minerva and I are well into our..." She was interrupted by McGonagall clearing her throat violently. "Let's just leave it at 'we age remarkably well."_

_Hermione smirked. She knew just how old the transfiguration mistress was, having been told by the woman herself._

_Emma looked distinctly uncomfortable. "What kind of... spells will they be learning?" she asked._

_The two witches demonstrated all kinds of spells, mainly housekeeping charms. The Grangers couldn't help but be impressed. They talked about Hogwarts and how prestigious it was and eventually the conversation came around to the two girls, both of whom were very bored by now. Their parents wanted to know when the term started and how much tuition cost. McGonagall answered all their questions completely._

"_Well, Harmony, your youngest, will start the year after next when she is eleven," McGonagall explained. She turned to Hermione. "You are fifteen in September, correct?"_

_Hermione nodded._

"_This is very unorthodox, mind you. We've never had a late starter in the history of the school." Hermione wanted so badly to correct the woman. There had been one person who had started late, later than she was starting now, in fact. She couldn't recall the man's name, but he had started at Hogwarts at the age of sixteen back in the 1600's. McGonagall continued. "Should you decide to go, I have brought the Sorting Hat and all forms necessary to enrol you, plus a few tests to determine if you are beyond the knowledge of a first year."_

"_I can control it." Hermione blurted. Her parents looked at her with odd looks on their faces. They were most likely thinking that it was impossible, since it had only shown back up the previous night._

"_Indeed?" McGonagall said, impressed. "Can you demonstrate?" _

_Hermione nodded then proceeded to levitate the chair the Professor was sitting in. McGonagall gave a rather undignified squawk before bursting out in laughter. Hermione then changed the coffee table into a pig in reminiscence of her first lesson with McGonagall and finished up her demonstration with a generic shield much to the amazement of all in the room._

"_Amazing!" Mafalda exclaimed. "And all wandlessly."_

_McGonagall nodded eagerly, ignoring the gobsmacked expressions on Dan and Emma's faces. "I think with a little summer study, you would be able to fit right in with the students your age." she said._

"_That would be wonderful, Professor." Hermione said._

_Harmony finally spoke up. "Do I get to learn magic?" she asked._

_McGonagall nodded to the girl. "You will start next year if your parents allow it."_

_Dan muttered a shocked, "Sure..." and Harmony seemed to glow with joy._

_McGonagall then turned back to Hermione with the sorting hat in her hands. "This hat, when placed on your head, will determine which house you will be placed in. Are you ready?"_

_Hermione nodded eagerly and McGonagall placed the battered old wizard hat on her head. Almost immediately the hat spoke in her mind. _**Oh, hello, we've been here before, haven't we?**_ it asked rhetorically._

Yes, we have._ Hermione answered. _This is all just a formality at this point. I'd like to be placed into Gryffindor please.

_The hat seemed to nod on her head, which was a very disconcerting feeling. _**Yes... yes, you'd like that. But you would do well in Ravenclaw, you know, or even Slytherin. Your plan was cunning and well thought out. Hufflepuff would suit you well what with your loyalty to fiancé. There are no guarantees that Mr. Potter is even here.**

I was in Gryffindor before and I did just fine there._ Hermione argued._

**Yes, but you had friends there**._ the hat argued back. _**This time, you may be alone**.

_Hermione was silent for a minute. What if the hat was right? But no, she was certain that Harry ended up here. She just needed to find him. _Gryffindor please._ she asked again. Was it her imagination or did the hat seem proud of her?_

**Very well then, Mrs. Potter**,_ it said cheekily, _**better be...**_ "Gryffindor!" _

_When Hermione took the hat off and handed it back to McGonagall, the older woman seemed rather pleased to have Hermione in her house. "Very good, Miss Granger." she said. "I look forward to seeing you on September 1__st__."_

_Over the next few weeks, Hermione and her family visited Diagon Alley for the 'first' time. Hermione tried her best not to seem too familiar with the market place and thought she did very well in that aspect. They bought her supplies and wand, and she was relieved to be given the same vinewood and dragon heartstring wand she had before. It greeted her like an old friend. They even bought Harmony her wand while they were there. McGonagall had dropped another bomb during her visit._

_In this world, Muggleborns were allowed to practice their magic behind closed doors and in the presence of an adult. It was so they could get a head start and be equal to the pureblood and half-bloods by the time they started Hogwarts. Hermione chalked the difference up next to Eton being a co-ed school._

_Hermione had also hurried into the Magical Menagerie to see if she could find Crookshanks, but was devastated to learn that he had been put to sleep the year before when no-one claimed him. She hoped the ugly cat was in a better place. (Yes, even she knew he was a _very_ ugly cat. It was one of the things that endeared him to her.) But she did leave the shop with a young barn owl that she named Athena. She later learned, to her embarrassment, that the bird was male and changed his name to Athens._

_Whenever she could get away in the days that followed the shopping trip, she would visit the Ministry of Magic and look for evidence of the Potters and Harry. Frustratingly enough, the only information she found on their location was that they had hidden their main residence behind a _Fidelius_ charm. She mentally went through the properties that Harry had owned. Oddly enough, the only one she didn't know the location of was the house at Godric's Hollow. She did know the general area that the house was, and briefly entertained the idea of standing outside the charm and shouting for Harry, but thought it would be a better idea to wait and see him at Hogwarts._

* * *

"And that's what happened to me." Hermione finished. Harry looked pensive. "What's on your mind, Harry?"

Harry stared very intently at Hermione until she fidgeted. Finally, he said, very seriously, "Do you still have what you woke up in?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "You are insufferable!" she exclaimed. Then she kissed him passionately on the mouth. "And I love you for it."

"I love you too, 'Mione." Harry said softly. He required a clock in the room and was shocked to see that it was well past 3am. "We'd best get to bed if we want to ace class tomorrow."

The two of them made their way silently back to the common room, narrowly avoiding Mrs. Norris who seemed to be rather frightened of Harry. When they got back, they bid each other goodnight. "You never answered my question about that outfit." he whispered as Hermione went up the stairs to her dorm. Hermione smirked slyly over her shoulder at him making Harry's neck and face heat up before quietly shutting the door to her dorm. "Hermione? Hey!"

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Hermione were very bleary-eyed. Harry wasn't sure why Hermione was unable to sleep, but his problem was simply everything on his mind, first and foremost being the mental image of Hermione in skimpy lingerie. Thinking about it brought a silly grin to Harry's face, and Hermione seemed to know just what was causing it.

If the rest of the table were aware of Harry's tiredness, they didn't show it. Instead, they were focused on which classes they were taking and which classes they had with their friends. He ignored most of the queries shot his way, content in trying his best not to fall asleep in his eggs.

McGonagall arrived then and began to distribute the timetables. Harry took his and frowned as he went over it. It seemed that he was taking the seven core classes as normal, but instead of Care of Magical Creatures, he had Muggle Studies. He didn't need to study Muggles. He grew up (if you could call such an abusive abomination 'growing up') with Muggles, for Merlin's sake! He planned on changing that at the first opportunity and kept one eye on McGonagall. He would ask her as soon as she was done handing out schedules.

He also wanted to find out if she had been told about Quidditch tryout and when they were.

Harry glanced over at Hermione who nodded satisfactorily at her timetable. "What are you taking?" he asked. Hermione simply handed Harry her schedule and took his. Glancing over it, he saw that her schedule was exactly the same as it had been their previous fourth year. He was glad that they would have most of their classes together. He noticed her frowning at his timetable and correctly guessed why. "I'm planning on dropping Muggle Studies and Divination for Care and Arithmancy."

Hermione's frown turned into a smile and she handed Harry's schedule back to him. "She's done." she said.

Harry turned around to see Professor McGonagall heading back to the head table and he hurried to catch up with her. "Professor?" he said when he had her attention. "I want to talk to you about my schedule."

"What of it, Mr. Potter?" she said.

"I was wondering if I could drop Divination and Muggle Studies and pick up Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy instead?" he asked.

McGonagall's frown mimicked Hermione's so much that he thought he was seeing Hermione from the future. "I don't see the harm in it, Mr. Potter, since you are only a year behind, but..." she hesitated.

He wasn't half bad at Arithmancy and he was confident that he knew Care like the back of his hand. He just didn't want to be stuck in that stuffy Divination tower. Harry decided to make up a little white lie. "I've been studying really hard over the summer."

McGonagall's frown lessened. "I suppose, but you still have to test into the classes." she explained. "Can you meet me in my office this evening?" Harry nodded. "Good. I will administer the tests then and inform you tomorrow at breakfast should you pass."

Harry thanked the Professor and turned back to his breakfast. A few minutes later, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he was startled to see none other and his mother, Lily Potter. "Mum?"

"That's 'Professor Potter', Mr. Potter." Lily admonished light-heartedly. "I hear you're dropping my class."

Harry felt like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming lorry. A horrific and terrifying thought ran rampant through his mind: Was his mother the Divination teacher? He glanced up at the head table but didn't see Trelawney there. Then again, the crazy woman almost never ate at the head table anyway. _Oh, good lord, please tell me she isn't..._

"I mean," Lily went on when it became clear that Harry wasn't going to say anything, "I'd like to think I teach you and your sister enough about the Muggle world at home, but-"

Harry remembered something his sister told him earlier. "Well, you do. I mean, we go into Muggle London all the time and never draw attention to ourselves, right?" Lily nodded, prompting Harry to sigh inaudibly in relief. "There you go."

Lily seemed sad. "But... I like seeing you during the day though." she said in a small voice.

Harry seemed to deflate, feeling about two inches tall. "How about if I come visit you?" he asked. Lily nodded, then kissed him on the top of the head and went back to her seat. Harry's cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Something compelled him to look over at the twins. One was making a cradling motion with his arms and the other was making kissy faces at Harry's back, both obviously trying to convey that he was a 'momma's boy.' Dean was laughing at them.

"Oh, shove off, prats!" he bit off laughingly. Inside, though, he thought to himself, _Well... after spending twenty odd years without one, I don't mind being a momma's boy this time around..._


	5. In the Swing of Things

The fact that his mother was a professor here at Hogwarts made Harry reel. He hadn't even thought to ask Holly what his parents did for a living. He knew that his father was an Auror from the attack after the World Cup, but it had completely slipped his mind to ask. Thinking on it, it fit his mother, he supposed. Based on the stories that Professors Flitwick and McGonagall had told him in his world, he would have suspected her to be teaching Charms or Potions instead of Muggle Studies, but the more he thought about it, the more it fit. Their house did have the latest Muggle technology. He also wondered if he was friends with Hagrid here. He would have to ask Holly the next time he saw her.

Harry and Hermione left the breakfast table after he had finished eating. The two of them walked to their first class, Herbology, in companionable silence and Harry glanced back at his schedule. While Hermione most likely had already memorised hers, Harry didn't have her memory, and it _had_ been over seven years since he'd last seen the slip of parchment in his hands.

Since he'd dropped Divination and Muggle Studies, which his schedule said he had after first break and a double after lunch, he now had most of the day off. In fact, after Herbology, he had no classes for the rest of the day, which under different circumstances, would have been a blessing.

He wished that McGonagall had offered to let him come in during first break, but supposed that the tests would take a bit longer than forty five minutes. McGonagall didn't know just how smart Harry was either, so the meeting after dinner would have to work.

Harry had never been very good at Herbology. That was more Neville's department, but Harry wasn't half bad. He'd managed to scrape by with an 'A' on his OWL exam and thought he'd done pretty well... until Hermione had come gushing with her 'O' in nearly every subject. "Do you remember what we studied at the beginning of our fourth year?" he whispered to Hermione.

Hermione sucked on her bottom lip as she thought. It was a habit she had picked up in the first year of her employment as an Unspeakable and it drove Harry crazy. In a _good_ way. "I _think_ we studied bubotubers." she said as they arrived at the greenhouses.

Harry made a face and a strangled grunting sound. _Now_ he remembered. The horrid potato-shaped plants that excreted highly caustic (and very potent-smelling) pus that was used for acne treatment. Despite knowing what he was doing, and being pretty sure just how the class would progress, he waited until prompted by Professor Sprout before putting on his protective equipment. Despite Dean making eyes at him, he decided to pair up with his fiancée. Dean said he wanted to talk to Harry later.

Harry listened to the professor give the class instructions with a detached air before turning to Hermione. "Maybe this isn't going to be as fun as I thought." he whispered lamely. Hermione giggled slightly and picked up a medium-sized tuber. Harry picked one of his own and the two began squeezing the pus from them but Hermione managed to get about twice as much.

Harry didn't notice the concerned look Professor Sprout sent his way, but he did watch as Neville got an eye full of undiluted puss. Even Hermione couldn't stifle her laughter with the rest of the class as Ron tried to wipe it off of his friend's face only to get it on his hands. Professor Sprout cast _Evanesco_, vanishing the pus and rushed the two of them to the hospital wing but not before telling Harry, "I'd like to speak with you after class, Mr. Potter."

By the plump woman's stern tone of voice, Harry knew he had done something wrong or at least disappointed the woman. He glanced at Hermione who was looking at him worriedly, perhaps having guessed the same thing. Harry shrugged and Hermione sighed.

The rest of the class took the opportunity to mill about and talk with their friends and Dean was no exception. He casually walked up to Harry and Hermione and leaned against their work table while his partner, Seamus went to smooze with a female Hufflepuff. "So, Harry, you didn't introduce me to your lovely lady friend." he smarmed. "We can't just accept her into our elite little group without knowing just who she is."

Harry smirked. "Hands off, Casanova." he warned and Dean made a placating gesture. Hermione scoffed and playfully slapped his shoulder before introducing herself. She held her hand out. "Hermione Granger." she said. Dean took her hand and bent down to kiss the back of it lightly. "Harry's girlfriend."

Dean coughed nervously and straightened up before looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione. Harry was forcing his face to remain neutral and Hermione seemed far too amused. "Gotcha..." he said. He turned to face Harry. "So, the lovely Ms. Granger is the reason you stopped visiting your best mate over the summer?"

Warning bells went off in Harry's mind. He and Hermione hadn't had the chance to come up with any kind of cover story for their relationship. He quickly came up with something just hoping that Hermione would pick up on it. She beat him to the punch.

"Well, yes." she said blushing prettily. Harry couldn't tell if the blush was genuine or not. "We met in Muggle London just after Harry's birthday and I kind of monopolised his time. Sorry."

"So?" Dean prompted. "Spill it. How'd a git like you catch a bird as fine as Hermione?"

Harry quickly dredged something up but had to concede the point. Hermione did look a lot better than he remembered. He had initially thought her hair from last night was a fluke, but she had still managed to tame it this morning. Even as an adult, she couldn't get her hair completely under control. She was even wearing a touch of make up. Harry wasn't about to complain. "Well, there's this Italian restaurant in Muggle London about five blocks west of the Leaky Cauldron, right?" he started.

Discreetly glancing at Hermione he saw her eyes sparkle in understanding. The little Italian bistro on the corner was one of their favourite places to eat. "My family went there to eat one night. Hermione was there with her family and... well..."

Hermione's eyes sparkled with mirth. "What Harry _isn't_ telling you is he spilled his drink in his lap. We met when I handed him a few extra napkins."

Dean howled with laughter and Harry turned to his fiancée who was struggling to control her giggles. Harry raised his eyebrows in a gesture that clearly said 'I'll get you for this.' "You didn't need to tell him _that_, 'Mione." he whined. Best to keep up appearances.

"Yes, well... I thought it was cute the way you shrieked like a girl." she replied. Harry winced. _Hermione 2, Harry 0._

"All right, that's enough out of you!" Harry growled. He attacked Hermione's ribs, one of her most ticklish spots until she begged him to stop.

Dean smiled at them both. "Well," he said in mock thought, "I _suppose_ we can share him with you, so long as you have him home by ten." Hermione nodded and Dean changed the subject. "Dumbledore said last night that you were a transfer. From where?" Hermione looked slightly uncomfortable. "If you don't mind me asking?" he added hastily.

"No, no... it's fine." she said. "Actually, this is the first magical school I've attended."

Dean seemed surprised. "Were you tutored before?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head and Harry wondered just how much she would spill. "No, self taught mostly."

Dean seemed honestly shocked at this. "Really?" He stopped, remembering what Harry had said the previous evening. "You're a Muggleborn like me." Hermione nodded. "How'd you manage to get into fourth year?"

"Like I said; self taught. I already had really good control over my magic by the time the Ministry noticed me and my sister. They had me do some tests and got me caught up to speed over the summer." she said. Then she adopted a snobbish attitude. "That and I'm just really smart."

Dean didn't notice the joke, he was so surprised. Even though he was a Muggleborn himself, Harry was sure, like in the old dimension, that he studied magical law so he wouldn't get caught up in anything stupid. He knew how the Ministry found new Muggleborn wizards and witches. "Why did the Ministry find you so late?"

Harry butted in. "We don't know." he said. He figured that since he grew up with one of the Marauders and was part of a full-blood family, he might have some answers or at least an idea. "They might not have been watching that area, or since she has some control over her magic without a wand, they might not have noticed until her sister started doing accidental magic."

Dean looked interested but didn't have a chance to say anything more before Sprout came back in and the lesson resumed. When they were done, and after they put everything away and people were walking back to the castle, Harry kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Let me know what Care's is like?" he asked. Hermione nodded and left while Harry approached Professor Sprout.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked.

Sprout nodded and looked at Harry with same concern in her eyes as before. "Are you feeling all right, Mr. Potter?" asked.

The warning bells went off in Harry's head again. "Yes, Professor... why?"

"Well, you didn't seem to be at your best today during class, Harry." Sprout explained. "You are usually one of my best students. I would have expected the effort you gave me today from Longbottom or Weasley on their best."

Harry could have hexed himself. He didn't know what classes he was supposed to excel in and his sister had straight up told him that she didn't know either. _Time for another little white lie_. "Sorry, Professor." he said while trying to look as contrite as possible. "Just... first day back and all, you know. Haven't gotten back into the swing of things quite yet." Sprout looked at him sternly for a few seconds and Harry resisted the urge to squirm. Then, she nodded. Harry bit back his sigh of relief.

"Just make sure you don't continue to slide, Harry." she said. Harry noticed the use of his first name; Sprout _must _have been fond of him.

Harry nodded quickly then bade the Professor goodbye and hurried out of the greenhouses and back toward the castle. He stopped about half way there, suddenly realising that he had the rest of the day off until after dinner and his aptitude tests. He also didn't have anything to do either. With a shrug, he decided to go sit in on the Care of Magical Creatures class. Since he was planning on testing in, it wouldn't be a bad thing to know what exactly they were covering though he was sure it would be Skrewts. He _really_ hoped that it wasn't the Skrewts...

He plopped down on the grass next to Hermione who gave a startled squeak. "Christ, Harry, you scared me!" she hissed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Harry leaned back in the grass. "I don't have anything to do for the rest of the day until I meet with Minerva, so I thought I'd sit in here." he explained. "It'll make it look like I'm interested in the class and besides, I need to know if I'm friends with Hagrid in this dimension."

Hagrid took that moment to lumber out of his hut and scan his class. When he saw Harry, he gave a cheerful wave and called, "Hi there, Harry, all right?"

Harry waved back cheerfully. "All right. You, Hagrid?"

The half-giant nodded. "I heard from Professor McGonagall that you migh' be joinin' my classes." Harry nodded. "Tha's good ta hear. Want ter join me fer tea and biscuits this afternoon? I have the period off."

_Well that answers that._ Harry thought. _And it gives me something to do while Hermione is in Arithmancy._ "I'd love to, Hagrid."

With that, Hagrid addressed the class. "All righ' everyone, have a seat in the grass and we'll get started."

Parvati and Lavender sat down on either side of Harry and Hermione. "Hi, Harry, Hermione." they said together. Harry looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Girls, you're looking lovely this morning." Harry flirted. Lavender and Parvati giggled. Hermione put a possessive arm around his waist and put her head on Harry's shoulder, filling his nose with the scent of her shampoo.

"Mine." Hermione said simply with a knowing smile at Harry. She smiled up at him and he kissed her on the forehead. Harry pretended he hadn't seen the jealous looks pass between the other two girls.

Once everyone was seated, Hagrid started the lesson for the day. "This year, I have a real treat for ya all," he said ecstatically. Harry's heart rose into his throat. _It's Skrewts..._

Sure enough, Hagrid trundled out from behind his hut balancing about six slotted crates in his arms. Small pops could be heard and puffs of smoke were emitting from between the slats. Hagrid gently set the crates down and turned back to the class. "Class, this year we'll be doin' a special project..."

Harry tuned the gentle giant out and looked at Hermione who's face was as green as his probably was. Neither of them wanted to deal with the horrid little beasts again. She turned to look at him and Harry squeezed her waist gently. "At least we already know." he mouthed.

The rest of the class went about like it did before, with Hagrid assigning one of the small, pink, shell-less lobster-like creatures to each student, including Harry. But this time, instead of picking something that Hagrid had supplied to feed the Skrewts, Harry summoned a mouse from the forest and dropped it in the crate. Hermione, as well as Parvati and Lavender who had joined them, turned away and looked sick as the four tiny Skrewts in the box mangled the rodent.

"I found what they eat!" he called to Hagrid. "Anything _alive_."

Hagrid made a note on his enormous notepad and instructed the class to keep trying other things and Harry looked back into the crate. He decided to adopt one with a sting on the end, a male he remembered. His Skrewt had most of the mouse in its mandibles and was clacking and popping at the others. "I think I'll call mine Tom."

* * *

Harry asked Hermione at lunch about Parvati and Lavender. She told him that since the three of them weren't the best of friends in the old dimension, Hermione had decided to get to know them better here. Harry couldn't help but laugh when Hermione whispered that they were still just as air-headed and shallow here as they were before, but now... they wouldn't leave Hermione alone.

After lunch, Hagrid had a single sixth year class before Harry met him for tea. They talked about anything and everything while Harry wandlessly vanished the biscuits Hagrid had made. Much like his rock cakes (made with real rock!), they were completely inedible for anyone but giants. Even industrial demolition machines would have had problems with them.

Harry walked away from Hagrid's hut with a bit of information. Most of it was useless but good to know anyway, like how his mother had befriended the half-giant in her third year. Harry also found out that he and Hagrid were good friends since before his first year in this dimension. Pretty much everything else was simply they two of them chatting.

* * *

That night at dinner, Harry found out from Hermione that they were working on modifying existing spells in Arithmancy and all the double class was that day was an introduction. He also caught up with his sister, who he hadn't seen since they left the train, and the twins as well.

After dinner, he headed up to the transfiguration classroom for his aptitude tests. The Arithmancy test was simply a measure to find out just how much math Harry knew. Embarrassingly enough, he hadn't learned much beyond basic algebra, since the last time he had done any math was back in primary school, and he hadn't needed to use anything beyond basic addition and subtraction since then. Still, he felt he had done well enough.

Next he took the Care of Magical Creatures exam which Harry passed with flying colours. When he had finished both of the tests, Professor McGonagall collected them and dismissed Harry, saying she looked forward to seeing him in class the next day.

* * *

Breakfast was when things started to twist out of shape. McGonagall gave him his results first thing and he had done just as he thought he would. He'd _barely_ passed the Arithmancy exam, but did well enough to enter the class. He also aced the Care of Magical Creatures exam. McGonagall wanted to know just why Harry wanted to take a class that he could have gotten an 'O' on his NEWTs now without any further study. Harry just shrugged and said he liked talking with Hagrid. That seemed to appease the Professor.

As soon as she left, it was Ron and Neville's turn to talk to him. Or, 'try and provoke him', more like. They approached behind him and Harry turned to face them. "Bubotuber pus?" Neville spat.

"Excuse me?"

The people immediately surrounding them quieted as they waited for the inevitable explosion. "Oh come on, Potter! Don't play innocent! Ron and I know it was you!"

"What was me?" Harry asked bewilderedly. Did they really think that their Herbology carelessness the other day was his fault? Evidently they did.

"Spraying the two of us with bubotuber pus is a pretty lame attempt at a prank." Ron said.

"That wasn't me," Harry bit back. He didn't know what had happened exactly, beyond Ron and Neville getting pus all over themselves, but he wasn't going to sit there and be blamed for it. "It was your own incompetence, as usual. Now, scurry back to your seats before you infect me with your stupid."

Ron's face turned red and he reached for his wand, but Neville dragged him off with the threat. "This isn't over, Potter! Watch your backs, you and your Mudblood!"

Harry turned back in his seat with a stormy expression on his face. Dean leaned over the table. "Hell, Harry, even I thought that was you."

"Really?" Harry asked in shock. He was told by Holly that he was a bit of a prankster but didn't realise just how much until now. If a simple classroom mishap could be blamed on him as a prank, just what did people expect him to do? Harry slipped deeper and deeper into thought while his friends talked around him. He was pulled out of his musing when his sister sat next to him and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder.

"Knut for your thoughts, Harry?" Holly asked.

Slowly, a nasty grin spread over Harry's face; one Hermione recognised (and both secretly feared and loved). "What do you have planed now, Potter?" she said flatly.

"Well..." Harry whispered. He looked at Holly. "Remember what I did to prove who I was to you?"

Holly looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

"I figure, if I'm going to be blamed for a crime, I might as well _commit_ it."

* * *

History of magic passed like normal save for one major change; Hermione, of all people, fell asleep. Harry couldn't help but rib her for it all the way back into the Gryffindor common room for their free period. Hermione tried to explain that she already knew the information and really, goblin rebellions really were boring but Harry kept teasing her about it.

Finally, Hermione snapped at him. "At least_ I_ paid attention the first time, unlike _some_ people." she groused, walking away from Harry and sitting on one of the couches.

Harry immediately looked contrite. "Come on, 'Mione. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." he said, sitting next to her.

Hermione smirked deviously at him. "I know. But it is nice to know that I can still mould you like clay." Harry scoffed at her but she continued heedlessly. "Now, tell me what you have planned for Neville and Ron for the 'Mudblood' comment. I want in on it."

"Actually, it's nothing you can help me with." he said. Hermione looked like she wanted to argue but Harry shook his head at her and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Neville is a Parselmouth here. So am I." He raised his eyebrows significantly at her, and Hermione's devious grin returned. "What?"

"I think I can help you there." she said slowly. Harry could tell that she was formulating a plan in her head. "Tell me Harry, what do you know about King Midas and the touch of gold?"

Harry's grin matched hers. "Enough to know what you're thinking about doing." Then, he stood up and dragged Hermione to her feet

"Harry what-" Hermione started, but Harry silenced her with a kiss, unmindful of the smattering of students in the common room.

"Later, 'Mione." He said. He pulled her to the portrait. "Right now, I do believe there's a broom cupboard somewhere that requires an immediate and lengthy inspection."

Hermione only too willingly complied.

* * *

It was a very mussed Harry and Hermione that showed up nearly late for Potions. They'd missed lunch, but neither of them was very hungry... for food, anyway. They managed to scurry into the dungeon with barely a minute to spare and took places next to Dean near the back of the room. The tall black boy smiled at them.

But his smile faded when Snape said greasily, "Five points from Gryffindor for each of you for tardiness." Draco snickered from the back of the room.

Hermione glared and Dean looked like he wanted to argue, but Harry shook his head. Dean looked mutinous but complied. Harry would deal with Snape later. True to form so far, the fourth years were going to study poisons and their antidotes, so Harry felt he could tune out most of the lesson.

That was until Snape decided to pick on Hermione. "Poisons are delicate, deadly and difficult." he alliterated. "I suspect half of you will be unable to grasp the subtle nuances that are required when brewing a poison..." He stopped and looked directly at Hermione. "Due to your... breeding." Draco snickered again.

Harry's lips pursed and he scowled murderously at the greasy haired man. Hermione put her hand on Harry's knee underneath the table. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "Don't, Harry." she whispered as Snape continued lecturing. "Just drop it."

"I can't." Harry hissed back. "I'm tired of bloody gits calling my fiancée a Mudblood."

"It doesn't bother me." Hermione responded. "Why should it you? Besides, I can defend myself."

"Hermione..."

Evidently Snape had noticed them talking and whirled to face Harry. "Another five from Gryffindor for talking during class. Perhaps, since you aren't paying attention, you feel you already know the lesson? Describe for me the properties of a poison."

Harry smirked nastily at the Professor while the rest of the class watched in silence. _Perhaps,_ Harry thought, _the original version of me would back down from his greasiness, but not this time! _Hermione was hissing at him to drop it, but he ignored her. While Harry would never forget _his_ Snape's sacrifice, it was time to have a bit of fun. He pulled on a bit of his Auror training to answer. "A poison is any substance that affects the human body in a negative way. Like the oil in your hair."

There was a shocked gasp in the classroom but more than a few snickers and giggles. Snape looked murderous. "Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter!" he snarled. Then he fired another question. "You have a black substance in a vial. It is thick and viscous, and smells of ink. Identify."

Harry was tempted to answer "Ink?" but bit his tongue, knowing that Snape would just throw a hissy-fit at him. "Black death." he said with certainty. "Causes blindness followed by insanity. Needs to be ingested, which is hard since it has a distinct smell, or administered in a wound or intravenously. There is no known cure."

A vein throbbed in Snape's forehead and he began to list more and increasingly rare poisons that Harry countered effortlessly with the explanation and antidote if there was one. Finally, Snape snarled, "And just how would one such as you know about so many poisons, Potter?"

Harry could hear Hermione nearly begging him not to continue under her breath, but he ignored her. Vengeance was sweet. "Because, Snivellus. I'm planning on poisoning you at some point this year."

"_Out!_ All of you!" Snape bellowed. "And a further thirty points from Gryffindor for threatening a teacher!" The professor didn't wait for the students to leave before storming into his office and slamming the door. Harry was sure that some time during the remainder of the week, the Headmaster would have words with him, but it was more than worth one-upping Snape.

Hermione looked put out, but seemed to be fighting a grin. "You shouldn't have done that." she chided him over the sound of the happily chatting Gryffindors and grumbling Slytherins. It seemed his fellow lions didn't much care about the point deductions.

"Only ten minutes and he kicked us out. That has to be a record." Seamus said.

Harry ignored him. "Smile, Hermione." Harry said, smiling when Hermione finally grinned. "It was _more_ than worth it. I promise not to antagonise the man anymore."

Hermione nodded and put her hand around Harry's waist and Harry pulled her toward him. The two of them decided to go to the library for a bit and made to leave but were stopped by Malfoy. The blonde was flanked by his goons, Crabbe and Goyle and had Pansy Parkinson attached to his side in a mockery of Hermione. The pug-faced girl was making faces.

"Think you were funny, do you, Potter?" Malfoy snapped.

Harry sighed exasperatedly and buried his face in Hermione's shoulder. He turned back to face Malfoy. "Go away, Draco." he said tiredly. After the things Harry had faced, Draco Malfoy was less than a nuisance.

Draco made for his wand, but in a flash, both Harry and Hermione had their wands in their hands. Neither had their wand levelled at the Slytherins, but Draco removed his hand from his. "I won't let you get away with disrespecting Professor Snape, Potter!" he said. "You'd better watch your back."

As the Slytherins turned to leave, Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione. She had a peeved look on her face. "He is one thing I just didn't want to deal with again."

Hermione agreed as the two of them headed to the library.

* * *

Harry had Charms after breakfast and first break the next day followed by Transfiguration immediately after lunch. Both classes were exercises in boredom for Harry and Hermione though Hermione warned Harry explicitly _not_ to show off... too much. Even she knew that it would be hard to match the lack of skill Harry had most likely had previously, and they decided to play it off as studying. Hermione could do as well as she liked though, since she was an irregular case; having 'started' in her fourth year and all.

In Charms, they were working on the Summoning charm and Harry had fun summoning anything and everything he could see. He received five points for being the first to 'master' the charm. He had to stop however when he summoned Hannah Abbot's skirt and lost Gryffindor those same five points for 'immaturity'. He also got slapped by Hermione.

McGonagall proclaimed Hermione a prodigy when she changed her pincushion into a hedgehog first. Harry had decided to let her get the praise from the Professor. Even though they were technically adults, Hermione still enjoyed receiving praise from the woman she considered to be her mentor and Harry knew that.

Harry had 'managed' the transfiguration a few minutes afterward and McGonagall was proud to admit that Harry was, "finally taking after his father in this class." Harry figured that he wasn't very good before. He winked saucily at the Professor as he left class afterward and was treated to one of her rare smiles.

Outside of the class room, he spotted Neville and Ron heading up to the Divination tower. He and Hermione had the rest of the day free, so he decided to follow the 'Terrible Twosome' to the tower and have a bit of fun on his own. He gave Hermione a good bye peck and then disillusioned himself, silenced his shoes and snuck after them. He could almost hear Hermione's eyes roll, but he _did _hear her comment of, "He's such a man-child."

Once they were in a mostly deserted corridor, Harry began to hiss in Parseltongue under his breath. He decided to mimic the basilisk from his second year. _Rip, tear... kill...§ _Neville startled and looked over his shoulder in Harry's direction but he didn't see anything. He shrugged and continued walking with Ron. Harry managed to stifle his snicker. _Kill... so hungry.§_

Neville turned to Ron. "We have dinner after Divination, mate. You'll just have to wait."

Ron looked at Neville, the confusion evident on his face. "Huh? I didn't say anything."

_Fresh blood... warmth. So hungry... rip, tear... kill...§_

Neville spun around and glanced into the gloom behind him. He squinted, but still didn't see Harry. "You don't hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Ron asked back.

_I smell...the scar...§_

"That!" Neville growled, pointing down the corridor. "It's saying kill and blood and stuff..."

Ron shook his head. "I don't hear anything, mate."

Neville backtracked a bit and began to grope in the darkness for anything, but Harry was able to keep away from his outstretched arms. Harry didn't know what was going through Neville's mind exactly, but he could see the panic in his eyes. He smirked, knowing that Neville was just about to bolt.

When Neville stopped and glared down the hallway, Harry snuck up and put his mouth right next to his ear and hissed, _So close... taste the blood...§_

He was amply rewarded by Neville screaming like a little girl and sprinting in the direction of the Divination tower. Ron watched his friend run and shrugged, following at a sedate pace. "Mental..."

Once he was out of earshot, Harry let himself go, nearly rolling on the floor in mirth. When he managed to calm down he dispelled the charms and decided to go find one of his friends. He realised that he hadn't really spent any time with them since he got to school. It would be a good idea to at least say 'hi'. That and he really did like the twins' company.

On his way back to Gryffindor tower a thought occurred to him. _I wonder if Neville went into the Chamber_? He recalled what his sister had said about Neville revealing that he was a Parselmouth, but not the circumstances behind it. He decided to ask Hermione to look into it for him and that a trip into the Chamber was in order.

* * *

That evening in the common room, Harry gathered his friends around him. He didn't really need to speak Parseltongue for 'Operation: Midas' Touch – Slytherin Edition™' to work, save for the spell creation so he told them all what he wanted to do. He wanted to create a charm that they could cast on various objects about the castle that would change the object into a profanity and insult spewing snake when Neville passed it. The snake would follow Neville for a few meters before returning to its place and changing back to whatever it was. The spell wouldn't require the ability to speak Parseltongue to be able to cast, so it was really only a matter of teaching his friends to cast it. Hermione told him that it would be a very difficult spell to create, but Harry was confident that his fiancée could do it.

"So, what do we need to do?" Dean asked.

"Simply learn and cast the spell." Harry said. "The more wands we have casting it, the more of the castle we can cover, quicker."

The twins looked eager to get started and decided to help Hermione with the spell creation. Harry assured her that when his help was needed, he would be around. The group broke up after that, with the twins conferring with Hermione and Dean going to visit with Seamus. Holly took that moment to beg some help from her brother.

"Hey, bro." she said sitting heavily on the couch next to him. She gave him hug that he returned eagerly. "Can I get some help from you?"

Harry nodded. "What with?"

"In Transfiguration, we are working on changing teapots into tortoises..." she said. Harry winced, remembering his own troubles when he first learned that. As a Transfiguration master, he could change almost anything into anything else now, but back then, when he was first learning it, it was hellish.

"Say no more." Harry said. After checking to make sure no one was watching, he conjured a plain white teapot with the smallest flick of his wand. "Has Dad talked to you any about this?" Holly shook her head. "Okay. You need to forget the incantation and wand movement McGonagall taught you."

Holly looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"Seriously," Harry said, "they're good for teaching, but not for transfiguration in general. Do you really think that someone out there created a spell specifically to change a teapot into a tortoise?" Holly giggled when Harry raised his eyebrows sceptically. "I didn't think so. There are two things you need to wrap your mind around with transfiguration. First, transfiguration is all about _intent_. You have to want the thing to change, and know just what you want it to be. For example..."

Harry twitched his wand and the teapot became a perfect tortoise which began to amble slowly toward the edge of the table. Harry changed it back. Holly's eyes nearly bugged out.

"I simply wanted it to become a tortoise, willed it to become one and focused the magic through my wand," he said. Holly nodded her understanding. "Secondly, you need to remember relationship. It is easier to transfigure something into something else, if the two things have something in common. For instance; a bone needle into a metal one. They're both needles and have the same shape. It gets harder the fewer that things have in common. The teapot and tortoise have nothing in common beyond the hardness of the porcelain and shell."

"What about their names?" Holly asked. "Tortoise, teapot. Both tee sounds."

Harry shook his head. "Completely irrelevant." he said. He pointed at the teapot. "For instance, what does Sirius call that?"

"A kettle..." Holly said as the understanding dawned on her.

"Then we have other languages, too." Harry said. "So names mean nothing transfiguration-wise."

Holly looked pensive. "So, does that mean that spell incantations are useless?"

"No." Harry said, shaking his head. "Without the incantation for a charm, jinx, hex or curse, they won't work. Even silent casting, the person needs to _think _the incantation. Now, give it a shot."

Holly concentrated on the teapot and waved her wand, and Harry nearly choked on the air he was breathing. He recognised that wand. It was _his__!_ Holly was using this dimension's holly and Fawkes feather wand. A surge of jealousy rose up in his chest, but he suppressed it. The white birch and heartstring wand he had here had chosen him after all, and it felt right. As right as his old wand did. He decided against telling Holly about her wand and instead watched as she botched the spell. The teapot turned into a perfect porcelain tortoise. Holly frowned in frustration.

"I did better than that in class." she groused.

Harry rubbed circles on her back. "You did really well for your first try at silent casting." he encouraged. He changed the tortoise back to the white teapot. "Try again."

Holly's face scrunched up cutely in concentration and she waved her wand again. This time, the teapot changed into a perfect, live tortoise save for its white porcelain shell. It began to look about the table blearily then seemed to glare at Harry for its predicament. "I did it!" Holly cheered. He hugged Harry tightly. "Thanks, Harry. I owe you one."

Harry waved her off and vanished the turtle. "Make sure you show Minerva what you can do the next time you see her."

Holly raised an eyebrow. "'Minerva'?"

Harry winced. "Force of habit." Adapting might be tougher than he thought.

* * *

Thursday afternoon held the class that Harry was both excited for and dreaded; Defence against the Dark Arts. Despite what Hermione had insisted, Harry knew that Mad-Eye was really Mad-Eye. Master Auror Alastor Moody had come out of retirement shortly after Harry had destroyed Voldemort to help with the clean up. Harry had the wonderful pleasure of working with the grizzled old man as his trainee for the first two years in the Corps. Harry knew Mad-Eye very well. Little things, like a nervous tick that Crouch Junior had were absent from the Professor at the head of the class. There were other things that the Professor was doing, like the tight, coiled way he was standing that Crouch Junior hadn't done.

Still, Hermione was insistent that they watch him and she seemed dead-set on proving Harry wrong. Harry was more than willing to play her game.

"My name is Alastor Moody," Moody barked suddenly from the head of the class. Everyone quieted. "You can call me Professor Moody, or just Moody. I don't care. I am here because Professor Dumbledore asked me. End of story."

The rest of the class seemed cowed and intimidated by their new professor, but Harry was having a hard time containing his mirth. He could almost imagine the classes to come. Crouch Junior had been a hard-arse, but in comparison to the real Moody, he was a fluffy kitten. The real Moody was a right old bastard.

"For the first few weeks in this class, we will be learning about the unforgivable curses." he went on. "There are three of them. Can we have any examples?" he scanned the few hands that had been raised. "Malfoy."

Hermione elbowed Harry in the ribs as Malfoy listed the Cruciatus curse. "See?" she mouthed. Harry just rolled his eyes at her.

"The Cruciatuscurse. Good, good. Five points to Slytherin." Moody said. Ron grumbled mutinously but Moody ignored him. "The Cruciatus curse causes excruciating pain by affecting all the victim's nerve endings at once. It is _un_blockable. Give me another."

No-one raised their hand so Harry took the initiative. "The Imperiuscurse."

"Five points to Gryffindor." Moody said. "The Imperiuscurse is the ultimate mind control curse. It is almost irresistible. One more, one more. Anyone?"

Yet again, no one volunteered so Moody went on. "The Killing Curse, _Avada Kedavra._" he explained sombrely. "There is no known defence against this curse-"

Harry frowned and interrupted Moody. "Don't you mean magical defence against it?" he asked. Moody looked at him expectantly.

"What do you mean..." he paused and checked his seating charts. "Potter."

"I mean, if you don't get hit by it, it won't kill you right? Same with the Cruciatus." Harry said. "Dodge out of the way, or levitate something in front of you."

Moody's good eye shined with pride and he smiled at Harry. "Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor for your ingenuity, Potter!"

One of the Slytherins spoke up from the back of the class. Harry thought it was Blaise Zabini. "Can we see some examples, sir?" he asked.

Moody stared at the boy incredulously. "Are you barking mad, boy?" he snapped. "The casting of the Unforgivables carries with them a _one way ticket to Azkaban__!_ Even on something as innocuous as a rat!"

This time it was Harry's turn to elbow Hermione. "See?" he mouthed back. Hermione huffed and studiously ignored him. _Harry 1, Hermione 0._

"Now that that's out of the way..." Moody said rubbing his hands together. "We can get on with what I plan on teaching you for the rest of the semester. Defence. I will be teaching you how to defend yourselves. Shields, jinxes, hexes and curses and their counters..." he paused for effect and the class was hanging on his every word. Harry smiled just waiting for what was coming next.

"_Constant Vigilance!_" Moody shouted. The entire class except Harry jumped. Harry chuckled at Hermione and she slapped him on the arm.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. "Your homework," Moody said ignoring the groan as everyone packed up, "is to research and practice the _Protego_ shield for next week. Dismissed."

As they left the class room, Harry could feel Moody's magical eye on him. Sure enough, when he turned around the electric blue prosthetic was looking directly at him. Moody may have been mad as a hatter and paranoid to a fault, but he was observant enough to notice things about Harry and suspect him. He would have to be careful from here on out...


	6. A Strange Friend

"Okay, gentlemen." Harry said. Harry had gathered his friends and they all convened in an abandoned classroom on the fourth floor to discuss the pranking of Neville Longbottom. Hermione, in her way, had told him that it was once a second Transfiguration classroom that hadn't seen use since the 1400's.

Harry thought it would be a perfect place to gather the New-Marauders since one, no one really came through the corridor, and two, he really didn't want to reveal the Room of Requirement to anyone else. It had become something of a sanctuary to Harry and Hermione in the short week they had been back and Harry didn't want to reveal it to anyone unless he had to. The aforementioned girl cleared her throat and Harry hastily corrected himself. "And lady."

Hermione smiled smugly.

"Here is the plan." Harry continued. He spread the Marauder's Map on the floor of the classroom. "Once we all have the spell memorised, we will each take part of the castle and _randomly_, and I _cannot_ stress this enough, randomly cast the spell on things through out your assigned area."

Harry tapped the map with his wand and cast a coloration charm to indicate each person's section. Harry took green.

He handed out a stack of about one hundred rune stickers to each of his friends. The stickers had the standard enchantment rune on them and a secondary rune to turn the sticker invisible once it had the newly created pranking charm cast on it. The spell Hermione had created was a wonderful piece of work. She had modified the spell from touch to presence since she was sure Neville didn't actually touch everything in the school. She had also managed to circumvent the need for Harry's Parseltongue by working in a normal Latin command into the spell.

Unfortunately, the stickers were necessary, as since the Marauder's time the school had been upgraded so that only a faculty member could charm any fixtures in the school. A rune carved into a statue or brick would be noticeable (and most likely a detention or worse, expulsion for vandalising school property) and a pencil or ink rune drawing wouldn't hold the charm for very long. The stickers also had the bonus of being able to have multiple runes on the paper, including one to turn the sticker invisible. Unfortunately, once the rune was tripped by Neville's presence, the charm would cast itself once before losing its charge.

Dean seemed to get the idea immediately, but the twins looked lost. Their pranks traditionally used their one of their homemade joke items, which was brilliant in any other case. Here though they needed stealth and discretion. "All you need to do is slap the sticker on what you want to enchant, and then cast the spell. The sticker will fade and hold the enchantment for... Hermione?"

"About a week." She advised. "Then the sticker will dissolve and no-one will be any wiser."

_God, I love this woman. Brains and beauty in one package... and what a package!_ Refocusing on the task at hand, he went on with the explanation. "I don't want this prank to go on forever, but try and stagger when and where you put the enchantments so Longbottom is left guessing. Now, for the spell."

Harry was very proud of them. It took his friends less than half an hour to grasp the spell and be able to cast it. He briefly wondered why he hadn't noticed how smart Dean was before. Checking the map to make sure it was safe, they all headed out to place a few runes and enchantments before curfew.

Let 'Operation: Midas' Touch - Slytherin Edition™ begin...

* * *

Friday passed rather uneventfully, save for one incident in Potions. Malfoy seemed determined to make Harry's life as miserable as possible. He tried to blame every problem he had on Harry and some how managed to coerce his housemates into trying to sabotage Harry's antidotes by throwing or levitating things into his cauldron. Harry finally had had enough and cast an _imperturbable_ charm over his cauldron so that nothing that he didn't allow would go in. Snape took thirty points from Gryffindor for 'trying to cheat in class'.

By the time the double period had ended, Harry was in a right foul mood. He slammed his finished antidote on Snape's desk and watched as Snape _accidentally_ dropped it on the floor and gave Harry a zero for the day. It didn't help that he had made the elementary mistake of vanishing his cauldron before watching Snape accept his assignment. He had to leave before he used an entrail-expelling curse on the greasy man.

The only bright point to the day was the fact that Neville had tripped two of the rune traps just before dinner. Judging by the size of the snakes and the volume of the boy's screams as he ran into the Great Hall, they were both Harry's traps. This cheered up the New-Marauders immensely, even if the rest of the school didn't care much for it; the rest of the school because it was a prank on the illustrious 'Boy-Who-Lived' and the Slytherins because the rest of the school was blaming it on them.

After dinner, Harry pulled Hermione aside and snuck the two of them into the Room of Requirement.

"Harry," Hermione said tiredly, "I'm not in the mood to snog."

"Neither am I." Harry said.

That brought Hermione up short. "Then why are we in the Room of Requirement?" she asked a bit shortly.

Harry was amused. "Is that all you think this room is used for?" he asked with a bit of a chuckle. Hermione had the good decency to blush. "I brought you in here because I don't want anyone else eavesdropping on us."

Harry required a soft two-seat couch and he pulled Hermione down with him. She curled up into his side automatically. "What did you need to tell me?" she asked. A hint of worry coloured her otherwise calm voice.

Harry took a few deep breaths before hedging on. He was pretty sure that his fiancée wouldn't like the idea he was about to propose. "Well, it took me a while, but I found out what happened our 'first' year here. Remember me telling you about my vision?" Hermione nodded, and Harry continued. "Well, the reason he has his body is that Neville was unable to stop him from getting the Philosopher's Stone."

Hermione gasped. "You mean he's immortal?" Harry shook his head.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but not in the way you mean." he said. "The Elixir grants eternal life, yes, but it's not a guarantee of freedom from death. I'm pretty sure he has a Horcrux here, but that's not the point."

"How can that _not _be the point, Harry?" Hermione's voice was shrill. "If he lies low and avoids notice, he will live forever _and_ have endless amounts of gold. He could destroy the economy. He wouldn't need to kill anyone to-"

Harry silenced her rant with a finger over her lips. "First off, he can't lay low. It's not his style. Riddle has to be in control of things, he's nothing but ego, and I won't let him get that control. Secondly, alchemist's gold is a lot like leprechaun's gold in that it changes back to its base material in twenty four hours. The only thing it is good for is enchanting and more alchemy. So, the stone is next to useless as a long-term support mechanism."

Hermione tried to railroad the conversation again. "Harry, does Dumbledore know you see the same visions that Neville does?" she asked. Harry shook his head. "I think you should tell him." Harry's blank look said everything his voice couldn't. Hermione cringed and backpedalled. "You're right, I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea."

"No, it was a _good_ idea, just with the wrong recipient," Harry said soothingly. He hugged his fiancée to his chest. "And I'm sorry for scaring you. I just... I may have forgiven the Headmaster after his sacrifice, but I will never forget how he manipulated me. Besides, Sirius and his wife, Amanda, know and that's good enough for me." He stopped and glared playfully at Hermione. "You have completely moved me off topic."

Hermione shrugged in his arms and made herself more comfortable. "It's a talent. Now, what did you drag me in here for?"

"Back to my story." Harry said. "After regaining his body, Riddle went back into hiding. Our 'second' year here, we had a DADA professor by the name of Mary MacDonald. She was perfectly normal and actually a good teacher..." He had to pause for a moment to allow the shock to settle, "but she quit because of 'family emergencies'. Last year was also normal and nothing of note happened."

Hermione took a moment to absorb all this information. She frowned. "Just how did you figure all this out?" she asked. "I can't imagine Sirius or your sister told you, and I'm certain they don't have records like that in the library."

Harry looked a bit bashful. "I... uh... _may_ have snuck into the Headmaster's office and ransacked his notes."

"Harry James Potter, you didn't!" Hermione shrieked indignantly. She never did grow out of the need to give a professor all the respect she thought they deserved.

"Oh, come on!" Harry said defensively. As an Auror, he was trained to get information as covertly and within the law as possible. Technically, he didn't break it to the office. Dumbledore always did say that is office was 'open to everyone'. "If Dumbledore keeps setting his password as sweets he is just asking for someone to break in. And besides, I had my cloak on and Fawkes gave me the damn notes."

"He did?"

"Yes." Harry shivered. "It feels like that damn bird can see right through me. It's like he knew just why I was in there."

"So... Fawkes might know about us and be on our side? Can he keep it a secret?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged. He honestly didn't know, but he trusted the phoenix. Hermione looked thoughtful again. "So, why are you telling me all this?"

"Well," Harry began slowly, "in our second year, the whole fiasco with the Chamber of Secrets... never happened."

Hermione's eyes widened with the implication. She knew Harry well enough to know just what was planning. "And you're planning on going down there." It wasn't a question. Harry nodded. "Oh, Harry. If Neville never went down there, that means the basilisk is still there."

"Hermione, we weren't able to take any of the books from Slytherin's library with us through the veil. If this dimension is anything like ours, the books will be down there and the knowledge could be invaluable."

Hermione's eyes began to shimmer with tears. "Harry, you fighting that basilisk again isn't worth some mouldy old books." Knowing just how near and dear books were to his fiancée, that statement touched Harry's heart. "You're invaluable to _me._"

Harry pulled her into a passionate hug and kissed her fiercely. "I love you, 'Mione." he said thickly when they broke apart. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course." Hermione said.

"Then trust me to be okay down there. The basilisk is ancient, and I'm not twelve years old. I still have the 'power the Dark Lord knows not' in me." Harry said as reassuringly as possible. "I'll be fine."

Hermione still looked sceptical so Harry pulled two galleons out of his pocket. "Tell you what," he said, "stay up here when I go down." Hermione started to protest but Harry 'shushed' her. "Use the _Protean_ charm on these. If I am really in danger, I'll activate mine then you can go get help. But, I promise you, I'll be fine."

Hermione took the coins from Harry and cast the charm over them both. She handed one back to Harry. "You promise?"

"With all my heart."

* * *

Harry decided to wait until after curfew before scoping out the chamber. For one, he wasn't sure if it was even here in this dimension. Two, if it _was _here, and was in the same place as before, he didn't want to be seen waltzing into a girl's bathroom. That would bring up uncomfortable and inconvenient questions. Though Sirius would probably love hearing about it... old prat.

Finally, after the last student had gone to bed, Harry snuck out of the tower under his invisibility cloak with the enchanted galleon tucked away in his pocket. He was dressed in black sweats and had put on his heavy boots since the tunnels in the Chamber were rough, if he remembered correctly. Remembering that Moody would most likely be patrolling the halls, he had made sure to layer the cloak over a _disillusionment_ charm. He wasn't sure if it would work or not; Mad-Eye had never revealed whether or not he could see through them both together so it was a bit of a gamble on Harry's part.

Luckily for him, he didn't run into anyone in the halls save for Mrs. Norris, and he had smelled her long before encountering her. One good, wolf like growl sent the feline scurrying away in terror. _Ah the wonders of being an Animagus._ Harry thought giddily, secretly enjoying sending the skinny menace fleeing. The door to the bathroom creaked loudly as Harry entered. He cringed, hoping that no one had noticed. Unfortunately, someone had.

"Hello?" The whining, hollow voice echoed eerily off the tiles. Harry cringed again. He recognised that voice, and it seemed that she haunted the bathroom here too.

"I know someone is in here," Myrtle said again. "Doors don't just open on their own."

Harry figured that he could probably just open the entrance to the chamber and be done with it. Myrtle remembered enough about her death that she would probably flee into the u-bend in fear. But something inside of him felt sorry for the pitiful ghost. Cursing himself, he pulled the cloak off and dispelled the _disillusionment _charm. "It's just me, Myrtle."

To Harry's dismay Myrtle actually seemed happy to see him. "Oh, Harry." she cried. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest and she floated slowly down toward him. "I didn't expect to see you this year, especially this_ early_. Even if you _did_ promise."

To his credit, Harry managed to keep the wince off of his face. Just what had his counterpart promised? "Well, I had something to do here and I figured, 'might as well visit Myrtle while I'm at it'."

Myrtle pouted. "So you didn't come here to visit me." It wasn't a question.

Harry didn't want Myrtle around to bear witness to him entering the chamber, but he didn't want her to go wailing off and wake the rest of the castle either. He needed to pick what he said next carefully, but words had never been Harry's forte. "Not _just_ to visit you, no," he said soothingly. Myrtle looked about ready to start crying so Harry went on. "But I was thinking of you."

Myrtle paused, her mournful face changing into one of joy. She swooped down and floated in circles around Harry, giggling. "I knew you couldn't forget about me, Harry." she said softly. "You're much nicer than Neville."

Harry's stomach churned slightly. While Myrtle wouldn't have been a bad looking girl while she was alive, she wasn't. She was a ghost. Though now, he was curious about why he had come in here last year but didn't know how to phrase it so that he didn't look stupid. Still, he had a knack for putting his foot in his mouth. Might as well just ask...

But just as he was about to say something, he had an epiphany. The ghost didn't like Neville, and Harry could use a lookout. Plus, Myrtle didn't have any friends among the living or dead and would most likely jump at the chance to feel needed. "Myrtle, are you stuck in the bathroom or can you go about the castle like the other ghosts?" he asked.

"Why?" Myrtle asked suspiciously.

Harry looked over everything he knew so far. Judging by how this dimension's version of him was before he arrived, he was sure that the boy had hidden in here after a failed prank. It was then that he had made the false promise of visiting the ghost again. It was time to take a gamble. "Remember why I hid in here last time?"

Myrtle nodded. "You were fleeing from that horrid Professor Snape after one of your pranks was spoiled. I did you a favour by lying to him and saying you weren't in here."

Harry cheered inwardly. "Well, I wanted to ask you if you would help me prank Neville."

Myrtle looked thoughtful but then her face fell. "Why would you ask me?" she asked, once again suspicious.

Harry shrugged and turned around. "I guess if you don't want to-"

The ghost cut him off. "I didn't say that." she said quickly. "I just... no one has ever asked me for a favour before. It makes me feel..." She paused and smiled in what she thought was a seductive way, "wanted."

Harry choked back a bit of bile. "Well, I know none of the other ghosts would help, since they report directly to the headmaster. You were my first choice." he said. He looked at her hopefully. "So will you?"

Myrtle looked thoughtful again. "I'll have to think about it."

"That's all I can hope for." Harry said. _Go away, go away, go away._

"Will you come visit me again?" she asked. Harry nodded a bit impatiently. "Thank you, Harry." With that, Myrtle flew back into her toilet and down the drain. Harry let out a breath he wasn't aware of holding and turned toward the elaborate sink. He searched around for the one with the carving of a serpent on it and found it shortly.

He was glad that it was still here. The library of Slytherin wasn't vital to anything in the scheme of things, but the lost tomes down there were invaluable, none the less. That and he had promised his sister that he would make the potion for her. He needed a fang for that. He just wished he knew for certain if the basilisk was down there or not. Having been unable to procure a rooster, and knowing that conjured roosters didn't work against them, Harry was essentially going in unarmed.

Then again, he didn't even know if the basilisk was awake or not. It might be dead for all he knew. Basilisks were rarely reported having lived longer than 800 years. Slytherin's was well over that when the shade of Riddle released it!

_Open__!§_ Harry hissed at the sink. With a familiar cacophony of grinding and clunking stone, the brightly glowing sink retracted into the floor revealing the pipe into the Chamber of Secrets. Harry waved the acrid stench that wafted up from the hole away from his nose. It smelled even worse than he remembered. After casting an imperturbablecharm on his clothes to keep the slime off, Harry took a deep breath, through his mouth, and jumped down.

Harry hit the bottom hard and rolled out of the way of the wave of slime that followed him down the pipe. A lot of the slime still splattered on him but fortunately for the charm, it simply slid off of his clothes. He still dusted himself off just out of habit. The tunnels were almost exactly as Harry remembered them, save for a few extra rodent skeletons scattered about. The shed skin was in the same place as before too.

The first place that Harry encountered anything amiss was immediately before the wall with the two entwined serpents. There was another basilisk skin, and with what little biology Harry knew, the skin looked rather recent. Harry felt as if something heavy had settled in his stomach.

Steeling his resolve, Harry approached the wall and hissed. The emeralds in the bronze serpents eyes flashed and they began to recoil. The wall split in two and retracted out of sight revealing the long dimly lit room that he was so familiar with. Slowly, he stepped into the chamber, the wall sconces flaring to life with green flame. Try as he might, he couldn't prevent the shiver that traced the length of his spine. The chamber held such bad memories for him...

Harry's boots made no noise on the time-dulled green marble. Every noise in the chamber was crystal clear thanks to his slightly wolf-enhanced senses. In the distance, he could make out the steady drip of water seeping through the bedrock from the lake above. To his left, he could hear the scuffling of a small rodent scurrying along the base of the wall. There was no sound of a slithering basilisk, and for that Harry was grateful. He panicked momentarily when he saw that the mouth of the statue was gaping wide, but after listening for a few minutes, still couldn't hear anything.

He knew exactly where he needed to go. In their sixth year, he and Hermione had discovered a library in a side room off of the main chamber. It was almost directly across the chamber from the monkey like statue of Slytherin and could be opened by pulling the wall sconce directly to the right of the entrance. Harry immediately made his way to it, and pulled it back. The section of the marble wall to the right of the sconce retracted slightly and moved to the right with a loud scraping noise revealing the library.

The books unfortunately were old and crumbly. Harry didn't remember the spell Hermione used to restore the books to readable condition so after making sure that there was nothing he could do, he made his way back into the main chamber. Harry took the next half hour rediscovering the rooms of the chamber. The study was still there, but the bedroom Slytherin made had caved in long ago in this reality. It was just one of the few things on a growing list that was different here. Harry decided to call it a night then. He had discovered that the library was still there, but he would need Hermione's help in preserving it, and there was no sign of the basilisk.

Not for the first time, Harry cursed the fates and wished he had chosen his thoughts more carefully. As he exited the study, which was full of crumbling documents and decaying furniture, he heard a sound that made his skin crawl; scales against stone. The basilisk was awake and Harry was trapped in a room with one exit.

He only had a few options at this point. He could try and fight his way past the basilisk or he could try and sneak his way past. The first idea was stupid and discarded almost as soon as he had conceived it. He only had his wand with him, and while he was confident that he could do some damage to a basilisk, he didn't think he could kill an ancient one with just his magic. The last time he had fought it, he had the Sword of Gryffindor, Fawkes, and an astonishing amount of luck with him. The second idea was almost as foolish as the first.

Even if his cloak let him remain out of sight, the basilisk still had one of the most powerful senses of smell in the magical world. It would be able to tell where he was and track him down.

Harry briefly entertained the idea of talking to it. He didn't have a clue if basilisks were sentient or not, but he had had conversations with other snakes before. Surely the king of serpents was smarter than a regular snake. But... no, Harry threw that idea out. The last time he had dealt with this snake, it was bloodthirsty and only wanted to kill him. That left trying to sneak past. Harry would defend himself only if necessary.

Securing the cloak around him, Harry cast a wordless _Silencio_ on his shoes and crept out of the study. He wished he had a charm to make himself scentless. It was all going well until about halfway to the exit when the basilisk finally noticed him. It had coiled itself in front of the exit and looked to be scanning the chamber. Harry quickly hid behind one of the columns. He was screwed.

_We smell you, manling__!§_ the massive serpent hissed. _We know you are still here. Your scent is fresh and enticing to us...§_

'_We'?_ _Oh wonderful, there's more than one..._Harry thought pessimistically. He readied his wand, mentally recalling spells to use and what, if anything was a basilisk's weak spot. He remembered stabbing it in the roof of its mouth, but he didn't have a sword and couldn't conjure one. He could probably conjure something like a steak knife then transfigure it into a sword, but he didn't know if he had the time.

With a resigned sigh, he stepped out from behind the column. _I won't let you eat me__!§_ he said determinately. He never exactly had control over when he spoke Parseltongue. It usually happened whenever he wished to speak with a snake. He just hoped it was working now.

Harry could hear a sharp intake of breath, like the basilisk was surprised. _We do not eat humans,_ the basilisk said, _they taste foul. We only wish to talk to one who speaks our language._

_Talk__?§_ The basilisk wanted to _talk_ to him? He didn't recall the last basilisk he had fought desiring to have a rousing conversation. It just wanted to eat him. This one seemed to have a different personality. Or it was all a trick?

_Is it really so hard for your kind to believe that other species are intelligent as well?_ the basilisk said with a stuttering hiss. Harry thought it might be laughing.

Harry looked up at the basilisk while it was looking away. This one didn't have the red crest on its head, meaning it was a female. Maybe that was why it wanted to talk, as the one he had killed before was male. He quickly looked away when the basilisk turned her massive head back in his direction. He figured it was safe enough to confront the snake, and if this was a trick, it was a well thought out and she deserved to eat him. _Well... I... no... but... you see, the last time I saw you, you _did_ try to eat me._ he stuttered.

She was silent for a moment before she hissed, _What should we call you?_

Harry looked about for the other basilisks that this one was referring to but couldn't see any others. Maybe she just referred to herself in the plural sense. After all, she was the queen of the serpents and other royals had been known to do the same. _Harry Potter__.§_

_Look into our eyes, Harry Potter._

Harry nearly choked. Did this great ruddy serpent think he was that stupid? _Won't that, you know... _kill_ me__?§_ he asked sarcastically.

_Only if we desire it to, which we do not, and even then, we could not._ she responded with a great heaving sigh. _Our eyes have dimmed with age and have become useless. We are no more now than an over large garden snake._

Harry was unconvinced. She could still kill him with a single bite, or crush him under her massive, sixty foot girth. The basilisk seemed to sense this.

_We are lonely, Harry Potter._ she explained. _We have not had any company since the Heir warped us to his will. We would not kill one capable of speaking with us unless forced to._

Harry was sure that his meagre Legilimency wouldn't work on a basilisk, but he didn't think the snake was lying. Even beyond that, he honestly felt sorry for it. _Okay,_ he hissed, _But if I die, I am going to haunt you..._

With that stupid threat hanging in the air, he looked into the basilisk's eyes, which were white, milky and useless. Almost immediately, he felt a pull on the back of his consciousness that he recognised as Legilimency. Again, it was different from Snape's battering ram approach, and even from Dumbledore's featherlight touches. It almost felt like she was asking for the information and Harry's mind was willingly giving it up.

_Ah, this is intriguing... We see you are from another reality. One in which you were forced to slay us... or a version of us._ she hissed. Harry could feel regret and sorrow across the Legilimency link. What she said next shocked him. _We ask for forgiveness for that transgression._

_Uh... sure, I forgive you__.§_

_Thank you, Harry Potter._ she hissed. She seemed to bow, and Harry was once again shocked that this creature, that was perceived as evil, was showing such respect and humility.

_What... what should we... I mean, I, what should I call you__?§_ he asked quietly. _I can't just call you 'snake', can I?_ The basilisk slithered away from the entrance and circled around him before laying her head on the stone floor by him.

_We do not have a name and it would be wasteful to grant us one at the twilight of our life._ she hissed almost regretfully. She closed her eyes and sighed again.

_What do you mean__?§_ he asked.

_As we have said, we are old, Harry Potter._ the basilisk said. _§Our life is coming to an end, and we can see the endless grasses._ She didn't seem saddened at all by this. Instead, Harry could almost make out a note of anticipation. Still, his heart went out to the creature. He reached out and stroked the scales above her eye ridge. They felt cold and smooth.

_Is there... is there anything I can do for you__?§_ he asked.

She pulled away from his touch and raised her head above him. _You would help one such as us, who you have such loathing for, without asking for anything in return?_ she said, disbelief colouring her voice. _§Do you pity us?_

_I... yes. I do__.§_ Harry said simply._You didn't deserve the lot in life you got... A lot like me__.§_

The basilisk lowered her head back near Harry and let him resume rubbing her scales. _Thank you, Harry Potter. Will you tell us of your life?_

Harry spent the rest of the night telling the basilisk about his life and what history could remember. She seemed particularly amused at how Harry had discovered his Parselmouth ability. She was also shocked when she mentioned that the entire school had turned against him when they all found out. _They believe _all_ Parselmouths to be evil?_ she asked incredulously. _That is as short sighted as saying all with blue eyes are mentally challenged..._

_You don't have to tell me twice._ Harry muttered. He had to chuckle, in spite of himself, when he remembered that Ron had blue eyes. He would have to tell Hermione.

When Harry got around to describing his connection to Voldemort, he was surprised at the vehemence that the serpent demonstrated in wishing the Dark Lord harm. She had never been able to shake the feeling of being commanded to do something she knew was wrong.

Even Slytherin, after his mind broke, didn't use her in such a way. Harry was suddenly filled with shame that he had to kill the basilisk in his reality, but the basilisk appeased him. _You did what you had to do, Harry Potter. I am sure that I would have thanked you for relieving me from my slavery._

Finally, Harry finished telling the serpent his life story which was strangely alleviating. As he was getting ready to leave, with the promise to return and keep the basilisk company every once and a while, she hissed for him to wait.

_May I ask a favour of you, Harry Potter?_ she asked.

Harry paused, his curiosity getting the better of him. §_I suppose_.§

_Many years ago, when I was still small enough to escape this chamber and seek a mate, I laid a clutch of eggs. I, unfortunately, laid them in this accursed chamber and its magic took hold of them, preventing them from hatching or me from moving them away. Only one who speaks our language can remove them. Regretfully, all but one has died. If you would be so kind, raise my hatchling. In repayment, I will offer my corpse to use as you will._

Harry felt strangely honoured and more than a bit apprehensive about raising a baby basilisk. For one, he didn't know how it would behave, and two, he didn't know how to care for a basilisk. He might be able to find something in the restricted section on raising one.

Also, he could go to Hagrid. The half-giant would be ecstatic about raising such a 'cute and wonderful creature'. If he was unable to control it, would it run rampant about the school killing people? He hoped not.

He was also stunned with the offer of her corpse. Should he sell her parts as ingredients, he stood to make a small fortune, especially considering that the parts would be willingly given. Willingly given ingredients were always better than those forcibly taken.

_Y-Yeah..._ he stammered finally. The serpent went back in the hole in the statue of Slytherin and emerged carefully bearing a football sized, sand-coloured egg in her jaws. Harry reached out to take it and she placed it gently in his outstretched arms.

The basilisk explained that the egg, once removed from the chamber, would hatch in less than three lunar cycles. Harry figured that she meant months, give or take a few days. She also explained that the hatchling would eat only flesh, preferably still alive, but freshly killed wouldn't be amiss. Harry told her he would do his best, and with that they bid each other goodbye. The basilisk wished both Harry and his mate, Hermione, well.

Harry left, making sure to grab a discarded basilisk fang from the tunnel, and levitated himself up the pipe, thankfully getting little of the slime on him. Also, Myrtle was absent from the bathroom so Harry didn't have to answer any uncomfortable questions. He wrapped his cloak around himself and the egg and, checking the map carefully, snuck back to Gryffindor tower. He needed a long term spot for the egg to lay, but his trunk, nestled amongst his clean clothes with warming charms on them would do for now.

He made it back to the tower without any encounters. He had thought Hermione would be waiting up for him, but the common room was deserted. Once in his room, Harry carefully laid the egg in his chest, cast the warming charms then snuck into bed. He would tell his fiancée first thing in the morning.

* * *

Hermione practically flew down the stairs the next morning. She was anxious to hear all about the Chamber, and given that it was a Saturday, no-one else in their right mind was awake. Harry decided to be a tease and make Hermione take a shower and get dressed for the day first. All he got for his effort was a rather hard punch to the bicep.

"Merlin, woman!" he griped playfully. He rubbed his arm; it really hurt! "Are you trying to break me? I'm fragile."

"Fragile my foot, Potter." Hermione said impatiently. She headed back up toward her dorm for a quick shower and to get dressed. "You owe me..."

When Hermione had finished getting ready, which took her only seven minutes, Harry offered his arm and they left the common room. Despite the lack of people up and about, Harry still cast a privacy charm. He was glad he did too, because Hermione almost immediately started asking questions. As soon as he answered one, she would fire another his way and when he got to the part about the basilisk egg, Hermione nearly had an aneurism.

"You have a _what_?" she shouted. Harry was certain that his privacy charm had only blocked part of her outburst.

Harry shushed her. "Hermione, be quiet." He glanced around to make sure no one had noticed.

Hermione stopped and moved in front of him. "No, I will _not_ 'be quiet', Harry James Potter!" she scolded. She put her hands on her hips and her voice took on the shrill tone it usually did when she was scolding someone. "Possession of a basilisk is a class 'S' offence. You should know that, Harry; you're an Auror. And I didn't even _know_ basilisks laid eggs."

Harry didn't either. He had thought that basilisks were only created magically; by incubating a chicken egg under a toad. It had never occurred to him that they reproduced naturally but he didn't care right at the moment. He needed to deal with his fiancée's indignant wrath first. "What was I supposed to do, Hermione? Tell her no?" he asked exasperatedly. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Forgive me if I didn't wish at the moment to be eaten..."

Hermione calmed down. "I'm sorry, Harry." she said meekly. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "I'm just worried. What if someone finds out? I don't want you to end up in Azkaban..."

Harry hugged her back. "I know, and I love you for it." he said. He pushed her to arms length and looked her in the eyes. "I was planning on destroying the egg as soon as-"

Hermione interrupted him. "You can't do that!" she blurted. After having known the woman for ten years, her ability to go from one extreme to the next still baffled him. The disbelief must have shown on his face because Hermione hurried to explain herself.

"Harry, it wasn't just _us_ that didn't know basilisks could breed, it was the entire magical community! When a basilisk is discovered, it's simply eradicated. The scope of knowledge we have on basilisks is that they are snakes that can kill with a glance. This is a huge opportunity for study!"

_Classic Hermione__._ Harry thought. He couldn't help but smile wryly and shake his head at her. "I suppose." he sighed. "The basilisk told me that the egg won't hatch for a few months anyway, so we have time to determine what we are going to do with it."

She seemed to accept that and Harry dispelled the privacy charm before they headed into the Great Hall to eat. There were only a smattering of students up this early, and even fewer teachers. Harry caught Dumbledore's eye and the wise old man waved cheerily to him. They hadn't been seated long before Holly joined them at the table. She yawned widely and rubbed her eyes blearily.

"Mornin'." she grunted. She began to spoon eggs onto her plate.

"You're up early." Harry said.

"Ginny snores like a chainsaw." Holly explained.

Hermione giggled. "Yes, she does." she said. "Must be a Weasley thing."

Holly looked intrigued. "Oh?"

Hermione nodded. "When we all stayed at the Black house before our fifth year, I could hear Ron snoring from the room he shared with Harry _on top of_ Ginny's chainsaw." she whispered. When she looked over at Harry, who was nodding along and looking tormented, she burst out into a fresh set of giggles along with Holly.

"The twins were just as loud." Harry said. "Luckily, they slept on a different floor." He looked over at his sister fondly then remembered something. "Oh, Holly, I got a fang for the potion."

Holly was immediately excited and began bouncing in her seat like a house elf. Hermione was immediately suspicious. "Potion? What potion..." she stopped and glowered at Harry. "_That_ potion?" she hissed.

Harry nodded. "Yes, what of it?" he asked. Hermione simply pursed her lips in disapproval and continued glowering at him. Harry sighed and recast the privacy charm, knowing that an argument was about to happen. "I know how to make it."

"That's not the point." Hermione said shortly.

"Then what _is_ the point?" Harry snapped back.

"Did you tell her about the potion?"

"Of course I did."

Hermione turned toward Holly, who had been watching the conversation like a tennis match. "Did he tell you about the potion?" she asked. Holly nodded but Hermione looked unconvinced. "What did he tell you about the potion?"

"That it forces an Animagus change." Holly said. She thought for a moment. "And that he needed a basilisk fang to make it."

"So, he didn't tell you that the first change is _excruciatingly_ painful?" Hermione asked. Holly shook her head hesitantly. "Or that you can't immediately start transforming? He didn't tell you that you have to work up to a full transformation?"

Holly glanced at Harry. "It wasn't important at the time." he said defensively. "Besides, you and I managed a full transformation in two weeks. What makes you think my sister will be any different?"

Holly went from radiating apprehension to pride. "It doesn't matter either way." Holly said with finality. "I want to do it and nothing either of you can say will dissuade me." Hermione looked mutinous, and Harry muttered something about being on his sister's side anyway, but she didn't hear him. "How long will the potion take to brew anyway?" Holly asked.

"About thirty minutes." Hermione answered.

Harry confirmed it. "I can get started this afternoon if you'd like." he said. Holly nodded eagerly. "The only rare ingredient is the fang. The rest of the stuff we have in our supplies."

"What about the twins and Dean?" Holly asked. "Are you going to give them some?"

Hermione looked at Harry while he thought about it. It wasn't imperative that the twins and Dean transform. They simply wanted to, but his sister was his sister. "No." he said at length. "I don't think so. Those three just want to make mischief. Hermione and I needed our forms because we were at war. You are my sister, and I love you, so you win by default." Hermione and Holly's eyes showed their love for Harry with that statement.

Harry then felt his privacy charm get dispelled. McGonagall approached the table. "You know the rules against such charms, Mr. Potter." she said sternly. "Five points from Gryffindor."

"Sorry, Professor." Harry said flatly as McGonagall went to the head table. Holly and Hermione resumed giggling, this time at his expense.

After a while, once more students and faculty were in the great hall, the owls swooped in to deliver the post. Being that it was a Saturday, the post was lighter than normal, and so Harry was surprised to get two letters. The first was one was from James, addressed to both him and Holly.

_Prongslet and Hollyflower, _

_How's it going, kids? It's lonely around the house without the two of you and your mother here and I miss you three. So spill it, Harry, how did the prank go? Was Snivellus mad? I'll be he was. Things are pretty quiet around here. There haven't been any more leads on the attack at the World Cup. Just thought you two might like to know. Oh, and Holly, your snake got out of its tank and managed to get out of the house somehow. I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you at the next Hogsmeade weekend. Write back soon and let me know how the prank went. Love you both._

_Dad_

Holly was a bit sad that her snake ran away. Harry smiled sadly at her and gave her a hug. She had named it Esmeralda the day after Harry had summoned it for her. It was the friendliest snake she had ever seen. The only reason she hadn't brought it with her to school was that they only allowed cats, owls, and toads as familiars.

Harry hadn't expected his father to find anything on the attackers. He didn't doubt that his father and godfather were top notch Aurors but the rest of the department were still bungling idiots. Things hadn't changed much when Harry had become an Auror. Kingsley, Tonks, Neville and Harry himself were the only decent Aurors on the force.

He then tore into the second letter, which was from Sirius.

_Harry,_

_Moony's furry little problem is going to happen tomorrow night (Saturday). Just thought you and your little vixen might like to come along on a pack run? Write back soon._

_Padfoot_

Harry was touched that his godfather would remember him and think to invite Hermione as well but Harry didn't want to reveal his or Hermione's forms to his father just yet. It would raise too many questions he just didn't have answers for.

While Harry was pondering what to write for a return note, the hairs on the back of his neck started to tickle him. He felt like he was being watched. Acting on a suspicion, he crumpled the note into a small ball and turned around quickly. Surely enough, Moody was looking at him from the staff table. Harry hadn't even noticed the grizzled Auror enter the hall and cursed himself for being lax. Moody raised his good eyebrow at him but Harry decided to act relaxed.

He pocketed the wad of parchment and decided to pen a quick reply later then go about his day. Michelle joined them at the table just as Harry finished eating. He absently returned her shy greeting and got up to leave, once again not noticing the look she gave his retreating back.


	7. All Pear Shaped

A/N: Once again, thanks to Seel'vor for betaing for me. This wouldnt be nearly as good without him.

* * *

Harry finished brewing the Animagus Revealer potion that Saturday afternoon, and gave it to his sister. Holly looked critically at the potion, which looked a bit like watered-down grape juice, then back at her brother sceptically. "This is it?" she asked.

Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Yes." he said impatiently. "What's wrong?"

His sister shrugged. "I didn't expect it to be... I don't know, so lacklustre." she explained. She popped open the flask and took a sniff of the violet liquid before recoiling. "It reeks..."

"What did you expect? It's a potion, after all." Harry said with a smirk. If Holly thought the potion stank, he couldn't wait to see her reaction to how it tasted. "You ready to drink it?"

Holly nodded so fast that Harry thought he heard her neck pop. He guided her up to the Room of Requirement so she could go through the transformation uninterrupted. Also, since she would have the mindset of the animal she turned into for the first few minutes of the transformation, the Room would come in handy for keeping her contained, especially if she should change into an apex predator. Harry didn't fancy being chased around and eaten by his sister-the-lion.

His sister downed the potion as soon as Harry had shut the door, and her face twisted into a grimace of disgust. "Ugh, that tastes worse than Uncle Sirius' cooking..." she moaned. Harry, never having had the dubious honour of tasting his Godfather's cooking, couldn't relate to that comment. He was, however, able to relate to the horrible pain Holly found wracking her body almost immediately after drinking the potion.

As luck would have it, Holly wasn't an apex predator. She was an African gazelle, and the moment she transformed, she bolted away from Harry and into the corner. Harry required the room to be a bit longer so his sister could heed her instincts and get away from him. Five minutes later, Holly came prancing back toward him, her eyes shining with excitement. "Fun, huh?" Harry asked. Holly nodded and continued to prance about. "Get used to how being a gazelle feels, Holly. It'll help when you try changing on your own later." He couldn't resist adding the jab, "Looks like _you_ get to be Prongslet now."

Holly continued to prance about happily, and Harry resisted the urge to change into a wolf and run with his sister. He remembered his and Hermione's experiences with the potion and recalled how, while he was an animal for that first few minutes, his wolf instincts mingled with his human intellect. It wouldn't do to spook his sister anymore. Eventually, the potion wore off and Holly staggered back over to Harry. "Takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?" he asked mirthfully. He required a squashy armchair for his sister to collapse in, which she did gratefully, making sure to leave room for him.

Holly looked like she wanted to slap him but was too tired to do so. "You could have warned me about that. The taste of the potion, too." she groused. Harry just smiled and rubbed the tenseness out of his sister's shoulders. She sighed contentedly. "What was that, anyway, after I first transformed? I was so scared of you."

"You gain instincts from your form." Harry said simply while Holly continued to melt in his hands. "I'm willing to bet you thought I was a predator, since my Animagus form is a wolf, and you felt compelled to run."

"But you're my brother." Holly said half-heartedly. She was clearly exhausted. Harry just continued rubbing her shoulders and upper back until she fell asleep.

* * *

The rest of the month of September was rather tame except for the horrible anticipation of the tournament. Sirius was a bit disappointed that Harry had turned down his invitation. He understood the need for secrecy and insisted that Harry and Hermione go running next month. Harry neglected to mention that his sister may be an Animagus by the next full moon. It wasn't that he thought his godfather would be upset that he had corrupted his sister. No, it was that Sirius, much like Ron, couldn't keep a secret for the life of him. Harry was a bit leery that Sirius might spill to his father about his wolf form, but figured he could wiggle his way out of it.

Despite Harry's stomach being in knots, he still managed to pull off his classes within the skill they thought of him, or in the case of Herbology, passably. Professor Sprout was still concerned with his sudden regression in her class, but seemed to accept his excuse that his job interests had changed. His other teachers, Moody especially, couldn't stop singing his praises. The only real exception to this was Snape, who was being just as caustic and nasty as ever.

Harry visited his mother a few times, too. She was pleased and proud that, despite the first two pranks at the start of the term, Harry was seemingly growing up. Harry had managed to wheedle a bit of information from her. Evidently, in his first three years, Harry was a bit of a hellion. He had, at the very least, one prank a week going, and Lily only hoped that Harry's new found maturity would continue. He found that he rather liked visiting his mother. She was very friendly, despite Harry being her son, and always welcomed her children into her personal quarters for tea and biscuits. Harry found that he could talk to his mother about anything, she would listen attentively and offer good advice.

One thing that Harry needed to cover quickly was how he had met Hermione. He had told his friends that they had met over the summer, but as far as Lily knew, Harry had spent the summer at home. He quickly wove another 'little white lie' about meeting on the train and becoming smitten. Lily seemed to humour him, but didn't hold any faith in the relationship holding for very long. Harry just hoped that his friends and his mother never conferred with each other.

Another thing Harry discovered was that he was undergoing a personality shift, specifically, his impulse control seemed to be slipping. Much like his visit to the chamber, and the tales he was spinning around himself, he seldom stopped to think about what he was doing. His years of Auror training had taught him to think everything through before acting, but in this time and place, he wasn't thinking at all.

It didn't take him long to pinpoint the cause: he was fourteen again, and had another few years of puberty to look forward to. His hormones were running rampant, racing through his body like lightning, and this announced itself in his eyes demanding that he stare at every shapely pair of breasts that crossed his path (and in a school full of witches, there were plenty of shapely pairs available to ogle). No, he was emotional and hormone driven once again. He made a mental note to remember to think things through before acting from here on out.

Hormonal imbalances would probably explain the personality changes he saw in his fiancée, too. Before they passed through the veil, she'd been laid back, calm and collected, but now, she seemed to have reverted back to her old teenaged self; figuratively and literally. While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing (she'd been cool in school), it was a little disorienting as he struggled to get himself settled in this world. He resolved to talk to her about it and see if she had noticed it too. It sure as hell wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to, and with damned good reason.

One weekend in the middle of September, he dragged Hermione into the Room of Requirement and sat her down. He figured that he should have thought this through a bit more (yet another example of his impulse control slipping), but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what to say. So he surged on. "We... we need to talk." he said.

Hermione sat contritely, and a bit fearfully, on the same burgundy two-seater couch they usually required and watched as Harry paced back and forth. His hands were clenching and unclenching; a habit of his when he was nervous. "A-about what?" she asked.

Harry stopped his circuit and turned to face her. "Us." he said. Hermione's face turned the colour of mashed potatoes and Harry quickly corrected himself. "No, no, no... I don't mean our relationship. I love you. I always will and you know that."

Hermione's face regained a bit of colour. "What then?" she said a bit defensively.

"That!" Harry said, pointing at her suddenly. "Right there. I want you to think, _really_ think, about the last time you snapped at me like that before we went through the veil."

Hermione sucked her bottom lip in while she thought. Then she gasped. "Oh..." she said quietly. "At the end of sixth year. I'm so sorry, Harry. I don't know what's come over me."

Harry nodded. "Exactly." he said softly. He sat down next to her and pulled her close. "Neither did I until today. I've been snappish and horribly impulsive lately. You're a smart witch; what's changed since then?"

Hermione leaned into Harry's embrace, once again filling Harry's senses with the smell of her shampoo, and pondered. "Well... we grew up for one and..." she paused. "We're teenagers again. Bloody hormones. Bollocks..."

"Yeah." Harry said with a nod. "Bloody puberty... _again_. Of all the things we may have to do over, _that_ is the thing I'm most dreading."

Hermione giggled in spite of it all. "Just so long as you promise not to get all broody and angry like you did in fifth year, I promise to watch my temper, too." she said.

Harry made a show of crossing his arms and huffing angrily. "No one understands me." he mocked. Hermione playfully shoved him away.

* * *

When the nineteenth came around, Harry decided to do something special for Hermione's birthday. He wanted to see just how versatile the Room of Requirement was and recreated their little Italian bistro in the room. Unfortunately, the room couldn't create food, but the house elves were more than willing to help. Hermione was very pleased, but still half-heartedly scolded Harry for using the elves, at least until he gave her his gift.

The day before, Harry had taken his winnings from the bet at the World Cup, snuck off school grounds and apparated to a little known book shop he had discovered a year ago in magical Dublin, Ireland. The last time he had visited, the owner of the shop, a man named Mickey O'Toole, had boasted that he had once owned an original handwritten copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' but had sold it just two months prior. On a whim, Harry had decided to visit the shop, in the hopes that the old shopkeeper still had it. His luck held out and the old man did. The price was a bit steep at G250, but worth every Knut for Harry to see the look on Hermione's face.

Hermione unwrapped the book-shaped package with a slightly disappointed look on her face. "Oh, Harry, you shouldn't have," she started, then her breath hitched and her eyes bugged out as she saw the book. She gingerly opened the cover and nearly broke down in tears she was so excited. "Oh my god!"

Harry was caught completely unprepared as Hermione required an air-tight plastic case to put the book in, and then flung herself at Harry, upsetting the dining table. She smothered him in kisses, muttering, "Thank you," over and over.

"I'm glad you like it, love." Harry said.

Hermione showed just how much she loved the book, and Harry left the room with a dazed, silly grin on his face that evening, which lasted for several days.

* * *

Operation: Midas' Touch – Slytherin Edition™ finally winded down around the third week of September. To Harry's and the Neo-Marauders' glee, some of the stickers had held the enchantment for much longer than the estimated week. By the end of the prank, Neville was a nervously gibbering wreck, refusing to go anywhere on his own, and casting furtive and suspicious glances at any and everything inside the castle. Harry thought Moody would be proud of Neville's healthy dose of paranoia. Despite Neville's petulant insistence that the prank was Harry and the Neo-Marauder's doing,(which was entirely true), the 'Brat-Who-Lived' and his crony Ron pretty much ignored Harry, save for a few nasty looks during class.

As for Mad-Eye, the grizzled old man had taken to keeping both eyes on Harry whenever they were in the same room. The Master Auror had revealed to the class that he would be teaching the fourth-years basic duelling techniques and started teaching them basic spells like _Stupefy, Impedimenta, _and_ Expelliarmus. _Harry wondered why they were learning those spells at such a later stage of their school career, but remembered that Lockhart had never held the duelling club.

Harry visited the basilisk once more before she died. He was rather saddened to see such a magnificent serpent pass away. She thanked him once again for taking care of her hatchling, and Harry felt immensely guilty for even considering disposing of the egg. Once he'd bid her a final goodbye, he went about casting preservation charms around the area, to keep her body fresh for when he could get back to harvest it, or bury her like she deserved.

Her egg had started making small chirping and rustling noises as the baby basilisk moved about inside. It served to remind Harry that he needed a more secure place to keep it, but he was drawing a blank at exactly what a secure place to keep a baby basilisk would be. He didn't think he could keep anything living in the Room of Requirement, but decided it wouldn't hurt to check. He find it endlessly amusing that he and Hermione were using the RoR more for regular things that they did during Umbridge's reign of terror in his fifth year.

The room was able to create a passable imitation of a large snake's den, complete with a nest made of rotting foliage (what was unpleasantly fragrant). He secured the egg in the nest and cast a few warming charms on the leaves before leaving. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he could still require a place to meet with Hermione or his sister. The room would simply create another room off the one he was in that led into the snake den.

* * *

The month of October seemed to be the month for Animagi. The twins, using the traditional method of meditation, discovered their forms on the first of the month. They both were pygmy marmosets, and almost immediately started scheming ways to use their forms for pranks. Dean still didn't have a good grasp on his form yet, but Harry didn't want to give in and give him a potion. The potion was somehow sacred to him; only sharable with those he was close to.

Holly managed her first full transformation that weekend and tried to pressure Harry into going on a run with their father and Sirius that Saturday night. Harry still wasn't quite ready to answer the questions that his father was sure to ask, but told Holly that she was welcome to go anyway. She opted out, saying that it wouldn't be the same without her brother.

Perhaps the most... unsettling thing that happened during October was Michelle stepping up her attempts to get Harry to 'notice her'. Harry knew the girl had a crush on him, much like he'd known about Ginny's in his original world. And much like it happened previously, he hoped that by ignoring her Michelle would give up and move on. Unfortunately, however, Michelle was nothing if not persistent. She was also a Black, and like her father, she was much smarter than most people gave her credit for. She started sitting next to him in the Great Hall at meals, bringing Luna with her. She would sit as close to Harry as she could and despite her near constant blush, made every attempt to carry on conversations with Harry.

Harry was becoming increasingly frustrated with the girl's attempts to gain his affection. Hermione seemed to find it particularly amusing when Harry pleadingly looked to Luna, of all people, for help.

* * *

Monday the twenty-seventh was when everything went tits up. Harry remembered that this was the date the notice went up, proclaiming that the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang student would arrive on the thirtieth. Sure enough, just like before, the castle was abuzz with the news. But something was strange with the talk amongst the students. No-one seemed to be mentioning the French school. They were all talking about Durmstrang, sure, but more than once Harry heard something about 'Americans'.

Harry decided to go check the flyer for himself. Sure enough, the notice had changed.

"_Salem?_" Harry exclaimed. More than a few students turned to look at his outburst. The notice listed Salem Witches Institute in place of Beauxbatons. Hermione tried to shush him but Harry went on, albeit a bit quieter. "What happened to Beauxbatons?"

Another student (Harry thought he was a Ravenclaw 7th year) still heard him and answered. "I heard from my father in the Ministry that they cancelled." he said.

Harry floundered a bit for what to say, too many thoughts running through his mind. "But I thought that the Tri-Wizard Tournament was for the three top European schools. Why Salem?" he asked.

Hermione corrected him, much to his consternation. "It is for the top three _magical_ schools, Harry." she said. "Any other school is welcome to register, but only three are picked."

No-one seemed to know just what the criteria were to be picked for the tournament. Harry sincerely doubted that the International Confederacy of Warlocks looked at how safe a school was, otherwise Hogwarts wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in hell. Ever. He pulled Hermione out of the crowd and into a secluded corner. "Why Salem?" he asked.

"I don't know, Harry!" Hermione snapped. "Maybe they came in fourth or something, just after Beauxbatons."

Harry shook his head impatiently. "No, I don't mean that. I mean, why not Beauxbatons? What changed? Everything we know, all that knowledge we were counting on is now down the crapper."

Hermione's stormy indignant expression softened. "Harry," she said softly, "everything we knew changed the moment we got here. We both have siblings, Neville is the 'Boy-Who-Lived', Voldemort got his body back three years ago… need I go on?"

Harry knew that she was right, much as he hated to admit it. He sighed heavily and leaned on her. "No... no, you don't." he said. "It's just... I don't know where to go from here."

Harry relaxed into Hermione's hug and enjoyed the sensation of her rubbing his back. "We've always been good at improvising, Harry." she said. "We can do it again." Harry smiled at her and she smirked deviously at him. "I just thought you were looking forward to seeing a certain half-Veela again."

Harry faked (sort of) being affronted. "As if!" he exclaimed. "What, are you jealous on that certain half-Veela?"

He got a raspberry for that comment. "You wish, Potter. Besides," Hermione sniffed disdainfully, "she can't compete with _my _beauty."

* * *

The next day, Snape finally pushed Harry far enough to make good his threat about poisoning the Potion Master.

The greasy man stalked about the dungeons surveying the students' potions. He was being unusually quiet... that is, until he got to Hermione and Harry's table. They were still covering poisons and had moved on to certain potions that could be used as a poison; today was the Draught of Dementia. The completed potion was supposed to be a murky green colour, and Harry and Hermione's was spot on. Snape stopped and peered into their cauldron. "Ten points from Gryffindor for cheating!" he said before stalking away.

To keep from saying something that would get him in trouble, Harry gritted his teeth so hard he was surprised that he didn't break one. Hermione, however, didn't seem to have that compunction. "That is completely unfair." she said.

Snape stopped and turned around. "Do you plan on arguing with me, Granger?" He snarled. "It wasn't _my_ decision to let you into my class. If it had been up to me, you, and anyone like you, wouldn't even be attending this school."

It was clear to both Harry and Hermione what Snape _really_ meant. Hermione's face turned red with the effort not to tear into the Professor, but it she didn't hesitate to rip Malfoy a new one when he snickered. "No-one asked your opinion, you ferret-faced, inbred _freak!_" She snarled. A brief crackle of magic arced down her arms in response to her anger. This time it was Malfoy's turn to get red faced with anger.

The class was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Then Snape smiled, and Harry winced. He knew what that smile meant. "Detention, Granger." Snape said silkily. "Tonight, after dinner."

Hermione looked mutinous and ready to cry. Harry wanted nothing more than to kill the greasy man, ideally painfully, publically and as humiliatingly as possible. He leaned over, keeping his eyes on Snape who had resumed stalking the classroom, and whispered to Hermione. "I'll get him back. Don't worry about the detention."

Harry managed to procure a Muggle horse laxative from one of the lower year Muggleborn students. Why said boy had Muggle horse laxatives was beyond him (and he wasn't sure he really _wanted _to know either), but it suited his purposes. He went down to the kitchens and found the same elf that had helped him with the start of term prank. "Sparky?" he asked the small elf. Sparky looked at him attentively. "I need you to do me a favour. Can you crush these pills up and put them in Professor Snape's drink tonight?"

The elf took the laxative from Harry and looked at it curiously. "What is it?" she asked.

Harry knew he had to lie, since the elves wouldn't, and couldn't for that matter, knowingly harm a teacher. "It's a special medicine for Professor Snape's stomach, which'll help him purge his system. Madame Pomfrey asked me to give it directly to the Professor, but he doesn't like me and won't take it from me."

The elf suddenly looked very intense. She nodded fiercely. "Professor Snapey needs to take his medicines. Sparky will make sure he gets it."

Unable to contain his mirth, Harry started guffawing while he thanked the elf.

* * *

That night at dinner, Harry couldn't take his eyes off of Snape. His friends and fellow Neo-Marauders seemed to pick up on the mood, inquiring as to what was going on. Harry huddled them in the middle of the table and told them what he did. Dean winced painfully in sympathy, while the twins and his sister started to laugh. Secretly, Harry expected Hermione to tear him a new one for the 'prank', but he was pleasantly surprised when she smiled vindictively. Their dinner all but forgotten in light of the evening 'entertainment', the five of them turned their attention back to the staff table. Harry's anticipation grew as Snape picked up his goblet.

Snape seemed to be able to feel the eyes on him and he glowered down at Harry. Harry smirked nastily back up at him, making the greasy man pause. He cast a few detection charms over his food and drink, frowning as they presumably came up negative. Harry glanced over at the Headmaster, who seemed to be as amused as he was. Dumbledore winked at him.

Harry watched gleefully as Snape took a tentative sip of his drink and, not finding anything wrong, took a few deeper drinks. Snape glanced at him smugly and Harry returned the look. "Ten minutes or so." he said to the rest of the table.

Sure enough, almost ten minutes later, Snape's abdomen rumbled ominously. His eyes bugged comically as he dashed out of the Great Hall.

Hermione got an owl later that evening telling her that the detention had been cancelled.

* * *

The next morning, Snape grabbed Harry and pulled him into an abandoned classroom, pushing him roughly away once he shut the door. Harry turned to the irate man, who had his wand out and levelled straight at him. "I'm sorry, Snivellus, but I just don't like you that way." he said flatly.

"Don't be smart with me, Potter!" Snape growled.

"Oh, that's right. Smart wouldn't work on you. You understand stupid a whole lot better, don't you?" Harry shot back. He didn't know why he was provoking Snape. Probably had something to do with the lack of impulse control he was experiencing lately... yeah, that'd do as an excuse. After all, the man had his wand out and pointing at Harry and Harry could almost smell the rage rolling off of him, over the grease, anyway.

Snape ignored that jab and stepped closer to Harry, close enough to poke him in the chest with the wand. "You think you can poison me and get away with it?"

"Who says I poisoned you?" Harry asked calmly. He wanted nothing more than to pull his wand out and curse the man, but he kept his head... for the moment.

"I _know_ it was you, Potter!" Snape seethed.

"I'm not saying it wasn't me." Harry retorted. "I said, 'Who says I _poisoned_ you?'"

Snape's pale face flushed red and he shot an unrecognisable purple curse at Harry. Harry managed to sidestep the curse, then wandlessly disarmed Snape and banished him against far wall, hard. Harry neatly caught the airborne wand and stalked up to Snape as he slumped against the wall. Snape's eyes were wide with panic as Harry pressed his own wand to the greasy man's throat.

Harry was incandescent with rage. "While I don't know just what that curse was, I do know it was dark." he said dangerously. "I could have you arrested for attacking me, but I'm a better man than you, Snivellus."

"You're just as arrogant as your father!" Snape hissed.

Harry's eyes flashed and he pressed Snape's wand hard against the man's larynx making him choke. "I am_ nothing_ like my father." Harry hissed back. Green sparks spit from the end of Snape's wand. "My father saved your worthless skinny hide from Remus. I, on the other hand, won't hesitate to kill you should you come after me again."

He pulled the wand from Snape's throat and backed away, throwing the wand into the far corner. "I would suggest you back off of Hermione as well. And reel in your stupid godson too."

Harry threw open the door but stopped when Snape snapped, "I will have you expelled for this, Potter!"

"Bring it on, you greasy shit." Harry whispered menacingly. "I _dare _you."

As Harry left the class room, slamming the door behind him, he thought, _Fuck me. I could have handled that a whole lot better. God damned hormones..._

* * *

Hermione seemed to pick up on Harry's horrid mood in Charms and tried to comfort him, but Harry was inconsolable. The adrenaline from his encounter with Snape was still pounding through his veins and wreaking havoc with his magic. He over-summoned the cushion and watched impassively when it exploded in a burst of feathers against the wall behind him, imagining it to be Snape's head.

How was he going to clear this up?

* * *

As it turned out, Harry didn't have to do anything. It seemed that Snape was unwilling to go to the Headmaster with their altercation, instead deciding on trying to kill Harry with his eyes every time they encountered each other. Harry was fine with that. Maybe now Snape would at least respect him.

Thursday came round, as it was prone to do, and with it the arrival of the Salem and Durmstrang students. Harry was more excited this time than he was the first time the students had arrived. He was curious about the Salem students. Everyone had gathered out in the courtyard to watch the other schools arrive. Durmstrang arrived first in their ship, which surfaced from the depths of the black lake like before. While the other students applauded and talked about the grand entrance, Harry simply wondered if the boat had angered the Merfolk.

About fifteen minutes later, Harry heard a long, haunting train whistle, prompting the rest of the students to quiet. Most of them glanced down the main drive towards Hogsmeade to see if the Salem students were arriving by train, but Harry, and a few others, looked westward over the large Hogwarts lawn, where a set of ghostly train tracks were seemingly growing in the direction of the castle, followed by a thick fog. The tracks ended in the middle of the lawn and a ghostly platform appeared in the mist. Another long, mournful whistle sounded across the grounds and a few students shivered, including Hermione. As Harry wrapped his arms around her, he couldn't help but feel impressed.

Salem had a ghost train.

Soon enough, the clattering of the coupling rods driving the wheels echoed up from the valley and Harry could hear the steam engine puffing along. It was followed by the shrieking of the brakes as the train ground to a halt. As the mist cleared, Harry could clearly see a gleaming black engine, pulling two cars behind it. The train had sort of an ethereal quality to it, but looked nothing like a ghost. _Of course it wouldn't._ Harry thought sardonically. _If it were actually ghost like, no-one would be able to sit in it._

Durmstrang's entrance into Hogwarts went pretty much like it did the last time, with Ron drooling pathetically over Viktor Krum. Harry made a mental note to rib Ron about that at a later date. Like before, they had mostly male students, and only a smattering of females. The biggest difference though was this time, Karkaroff had a falcon riding on his shoulder. He felt a bit of an idiot for pointing it out to Hermione, but she seemed just as interested as Harry was. In the Wizarding world, an animal could be just about anything... or anyone. And Harry didn't recall Karkaroff having a bird with him the last time.

Harry glanced at Moody, who was boring holes through Karkaroff with his magical eye. His good eye, however, was still squarely on Harry. For a silly moment, Harry wanted to see if he could unnerve the grizzled Auror by staring directly back at him, but squashed that urge in favour of studying the falcon on Karkaroff's shoulder. The bird seemed unnaturally alert, and was scanning the crowd of students before its gaze settled on Neville. What unnerved Harry more was when the bird turned and looked directly at him.

Next came the Salem students, and contrary to popular belief, the Witches Institute wasn't an all girl school. It was co-ed, though primarily witches, while Durmstrang was primarily wizards. Whereas Durmstrang came marching orderly in, all students wearing blood red robes trimmed with fur, Salem seemed to be the exact opposite. The students were chatting animatedly among themselves, many pointing at things in the Great Hall. They also weren't wearing uniforms; instead, they were wearing normal Muggle clothing. One girl with red hair, who reminded Harry of an older and prettier Ginny, winked at Harry.

Salem's Headmistress was a middle aged blonde woman with kind brown eyes. She was dressed in a casual grey suit with a pink shirt and black tie, looking for all the world a normal Muggle principal. She walked up and greeted Dumbledore warmly, giving the old man a friendly hug. Dumbledore introduced Durmstrang to polite applause (slightly happier from the Slytherins) then Salem. The headmistress was named Professor Jacquelyn Munroe and she thanked Hogwarts for their hospitality.

* * *

After dinner, Harry dragged Hermione up to the Room of Requirement, as was becoming habit, for a talk. He wanted to know what to do when Neville's name came out of the goblet, but it seemed Hermione had become a master Legilimens and she beat him to the punch. "What should we do about Neville?" she asked.

Harry blinked bemusedly before grinning. "Quit reading my mind, woman!" he ribbed.

Hermione grinned back. "There's not much there anyway."

"Oi, you'll pay for that one!" Harry protested. "But seriously, what are we going to do?"

Hermione sat on the two-seater couch that appeared in the room and worried her lower lip while she thought. Harry started pacing. "Maybe... we shouldn't _do_ anything," Hermione suggested after a while. Harry looked at her like she was crazy. "We don't know for sure that Neville's name is going to come out of the goblet anyway."

Harry scowled. "Right. With my luck, it'll be _my_ name."

"You know that's not what I meant, Harry." Hermione said calmly.

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

Hermione sat up a bit straighter. "I mean, according to the vision you saw, Riddle wants either you or Neville, but so far, we haven't been able to determine who his plant in the whole organisation is. You're adamant that it isn't Moody-"

"It's _not_ Moody." Harry interrupted. Hermione ignored him and continued.

"But we don't know for sure. Then we have Karkaroff and his mysterious falcon." she said. "There's also anyone from Salem. We don't know any of them."

"Don't forget Snape." Harry reminded. The attack the other night had settled badly on his mind. He and Hermione both agreed to keep a closer eye on the greasy haired man. "He is _way_ more violent here than he ever was before. For all we know, he might still be a Death Eater. He might not be Albus' spy."

They were both silent while they thought. After a few minutes Hermione said, "You could always warn the headmaster."

Harry sighed exasperatedly. "That is the second time you have suggested that, and it's still a bad idea." Harry said. "It'll raise all kinds of questions that we really don't want to answer just yet."

Hermione frowned and went back to pondering. "I could always put my name in myself." Harry said. "It wouldn't be hard to get past the age line, and I remember how Crouch fooled the goblet last time."

"Think about what you're saying, Harry." Hermione said. "Do you _really_ want to go through all that shite... _again_?"

Harry had to admit that she was right. He really didn't want to go through the tournament again. Then again, if it'd been his choice, he wouldn't have gone through the tournament the first time. As the 'Boy-Who-Lived', he had more fame than 'eternal glory', and he could lose a thousand galleons down the back of the couch without noticing. He shook his head. "No, I don't." he said, voicing his thoughts. "But, as much of a ponce as this Neville is, I wouldn't wish the tournament on him. Not even _he _deserves that. Malfoy maybe... but not Neville."

An idea occurred to Harry. "What if I just pulled his name out of the goblet?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "You can't."

"I can't? Just like that? Why not?"

"Harry, simply having your name put in the goblet constitutes a binding contract saying that you wish to enter the tournament." she said. Harry was about to say something about not putting your own name in but Hermione continued. "It doesn't matter if you put your name in or not."

"And I still think that's bloody stupid." Harry huffed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We both know there's a lot about the magical world that's stupid, but I met you here, so it has some worth." she said fondly. She reached out and pulled Harry down on to the couch with her and cuddled up next to him. "Maybe we should just help Neville when, and if, his name is spit from the cup."

Harry leaned back against the back rest and felt Hermione follow him, pillowing her head on his chest. "Again, more questions that I'm not ready to answer."

"What else can we do, Harry?"

Harry ran his fingers through his fiancée's hair. "I don't know, 'Mione. I don't know..."

* * *

The Goblet of Fire was set up in the Entrance Hall early the next morning. All the Hogwarts students who were of-age and who had submitted their names to their heads of house had queued up to put their slip of parchment in first thing. Throughout the day, students from both Durmstrang and Salem put their names in the cup. Harry had another encounter with the red-haired witch from Salem, who seemed to really like him. She smiled at him and introduced herself as Stephanie Brewer. She was from New York and was excited to be in England for the first time. Harry smiled politely and introduced himself, then Hermione, who was standing off to the side with her lips pursed and eyes narrowed, looking very jealous. He made it very clear that Hermione was his girlfriend, and once he'd said that, Stephanie seemed to lose some of her friendliness.

Krum put his name in the goblet just after lunch, to raucous applause from most everyone watching. Harry wondered, with everything that was different, if Krum would actually get picked this time. For that matter, he wondered if Cedric would be Hogwarts champion this time. Word around the castle was that he was planning to or had already submitted his name. His housemates were encouraging, but Harry hoped that Cedric's name wouldn't be chosen. He knew it was a stupid hope, as whomever the goblet selected as his alternate would be in just as much potential danger as Cedric, but the hope was still there.

The next day went quickly and smoothly. Even in Potions, Snape studiously ignored Harry, not even deigning to take points from him for blatantly talking with Hermione. That didn't stop the greasy haired git from still trying to shoot AKs from his eyes at him, but Harry figured that Snape would never like him. Even after the mutual respect Snape had gained for Harry in the other dimension, the potion master never _liked_ Harry.

One thing Harry couldn't figure out about Snape, and he certainly tried, was just _why_ Snape seemingly hated him more here than he did back in the original dimension. Harry remembered that Snape and his mother were friendly, if not outright friends, in their early years at Hogwarts, up to the incident after their OWLs. That Snape saw Harry as everything that he'd wanted, been denied and certainly hated Harry for it.

Did this Snape perhaps see Harry the same way, only worse since Lily was still alive? Harry didn't even know if Snape was a spy, or how Snape and his mother got along here. He had never seen them interact with each other.

* * *

After dinner, it was time to choose the Tri-Wizard champions.

All the students and staff gathered in the Great Hall. The staff table had been removed, and the Goblet of Fire sat proudly on its pedestal at the head of the room, mystical blue flames dancing around its rim. Everyone was breathlessly silent with anticipation as they waited for the British Ministry representatives to arrive and call out the names. Harry could feel the energy and excitement in the air. He glanced over at Hermione, who was throwing looks of pity at Neville. This reality's 'Boy-Who-Lived' caught a few of her glances and looked back with utter confusion.

Not for the first time, Harry wondered if the tasks in this tournament would even be the same. Hermione told him that the tasks changed every year, but there was still a chance that the tasks would be the same as before. That meant he could see the dragons again, possibly the same Horntail that he had faced before. He smirked when the thought occurred to him that the dragon might want to talk to him instead of cooking Neville.

At last, the Ministry personnel arrived (late as usual) with the rest of the staff and gathered by the Goblet. Dumbledore raised his hands for silence, and the hall immediately quieted. "Now, the moment we have all been waiting for, the choosing of the Champions. I will ask that as each champion's name is called, please enter the antechamber behind us for further instructions."

As Harry watched Dumbledore approach the cup and wait for it to spit its first name, the little hairs on the back of his neck rose. Something about this whole situation was rubbing him the wrong way. He looked around the room. Snape looked impassive and bored, but the evil glimmer in his eye told Harry that he was anticipating something. What, Harry had no idea since Snape was such an accomplished Occlumens, but he was definitely up to something.

Harry's gaze then fell on Karkaroff who was standing with a glazed expression on his face. Harry looked up at his falcon which was perched on... whoa, hang on... Glazed expression? Looking closer, he could see that Karkaroff's pupils seemed to be dilated, and his face seemed to be devoid of all emotion.

Having been an Auror in the years after he had defeated Voldemort, Harry recognised the signs of the Imperius curse almost immediately. Enough people had been under it that it caused the DMLE of his time no end of headaches in the cleanup after the war and Harry got rather good at recognising people under the curse. Harry quickly looked at Crouch Senior to see if he was under, but the department head's eyes sparkled with excitement. He was clearly free of the curse. Dumbledore seemed none the wiser. Harry quickly wracked his brain for someway to notify anyone, but nothing that came to him would allow him to keep his cover. He elbowed Hermione lightly and whispered his observations in her ear. Hermione frowned in response.

Harry looked back up at the adults and realised that, though Moody might have his head turned toward the Goblet, the grizzled old Auror just might have his magical eye trained on Harry. He looked at Mad-Eye then pointed at Karkaroff, mouthing, "Imperius!" over and over. Moody turned his head slightly toward the Cossack then back to the cup and nodded almost imperceptibly. Relieved that the situation was in good hands, Harry turned his attention back to the Goblet as well.

Seconds later, the blue flames turned an emerald green and it spat the first slip of parchment out. Dumbledore's arm snapped out like a snake and snatched it from the air. "The champion for Durmstrang is," he paused for effect. "Kiersten Halverson!"

The hall erupted in polite applause all around, but the Durmstrang students looked confused. Harry thought the confusion stemmed from the fact that Krum hadn't been picked, though he wasn't as shocked as he should have been. With everything that changed so far, he wasn't surprised that there would be different champions. He watched as Kiersten, a tall Norwegian blonde girl stood stiffly and walked into the annex. The unsure look on her face told Harry that she hadn't expected to be chosen. Most likely she had entered on a whim, or peer pressure from her friends.

Then the emerald flames flared up again and spat another name in the air. Dumbledore caught it deftly and unfolded the slightly singed slip of paper. "The Salem champion is, Stephanie Brewer!"

The red haired girl that Harry had met the other day stood up and cheered to the wild applause and whistles of her school-mates and joined the Durmstrang student in the back room. Before the door shut, she caught Harry's eyes and threw him a saucy wink. Harry's cheeks heated up in spite of himself. He could swear that Hermione was growling at the girl.

The first indication that something was wrong with the goblet, beyond the Death Eaters in the room, was the sputtering green flames. The Goblet seemed to be struggling against something, but lost its struggle as it shot out another slip of parchment. Harry saw that Dumbledore looked uncharacteristically worried and his stomach clenched. As the Headmaster caught the smoking parchment and opened it, his eyes widened in an almost panic. He waved Barty Crouch over and the two of them had a hushed but heated conversation. Harry could barely make out words and phrases such as, "...binding contract...", "...unorthodox...", and "...never before..."

He wondered what had happened. What that Neville's name? Had it come out early? It seemed that the two of them came to an agreement and Dumbledore turned back to the students. "It would seem that we have a second Durmstrang champion." he said gravely. "Viktor Krum!"

There was no applause this time as everyone was as confused as Harry and the Headmaster both were, though Ron made an arse of himself by shouting, "Whoo!" into the silence. Luckily for him, no one seemed to notice beyond his brothers who immediately started ribbing him quietly for it. Krum lumbered up to the front of the room, his characteristic scowl even deeper than usual.

The organisers of the tournament and the head of each school huddled and began to confer about something. They must have cast a privacy charm this time, because Harry couldn't hear anything. He looked at Hermione who looked worried, but also thoughtful, as she tried to work out what was going on. The impromptu conference was interrupted when the goblet started to sputter green flame again before it spat out a fourth slip of parchment from its opening. Dumbledore plucked it out the air and his eyes widened slightly. He didn't bother embellishing it this time. "Angelina Johnson."

The Gryffindors cheered for their classmate as the black girl stood up and tossed her cornrow hair behind her shoulders before heading into the antechamber. Before Angelina had even entered the room, the goblet flared to life again, this time spitting out the name of another Salem student. "Nathan Wayne." Dumbledore called. A skinny boy with brown hair and wire frame glasses stood up to the more subdued applause of his school mates and joined the other four. Harry wondered if the damn goblet was going to spit names out until it got to Neville. _Or me,_ he thought bitterly. He still hadn't dismissed the fact that his life was fucked up enough that he might have to suffer through another tournament.

Once more, the Goblet started to sputter, but the flames were weak this time, like it was tired and only green sparks shot up from the open rim of the cup. Harry got the distinct feeling as the watched the parchment flutter into the Headmaster's open hand, that the goblet pitied him. He didn't like the chill that ran down his spine as Dumbledore unfolded the paper then looked over at the Gryffindor table. However, Dumbledore wasn't looking at Neville. Dumbledore was looking at him.

"Harry Potter?"

It was a question. The Headmaster clearly didn't believe the situation as he stared, dumbfounded, at the paper in his open hand. He glanced back up at Harry and looked fairly lost. Harry had never seen Dumbledore look that way, and it scared him. He looked at Hermione who had tears and a look of betrayal in her eyes, and he willed her with all his heart to believe that he hadn't put his name in. She nodded slightly and squeezed his hand, a scared expression replacing the betrayal.

"What?" he heard his mother shout. She seemed not to believe it either as she glanced between the Headmaster, the goblet and her son.

Moody said something to Dumbledore, but Harry couldn't make it out. All he could hear at this point was the blood rushing in his ears. He didn't know if he was frightened or angry, as he stood and made his way to the front of the room. Maybe a combination of both. In a cruel mockery of the last time his name had come out of the goblet, he trod on the hem of his robes again and stumbled. One of the Gryffindor sixth years, Lee Jordan, helped him right himself again. Harry glanced back down the table, but no one seemed angry this time. Only confused faces stared back up at him. Hermione looked lost by herself.

Harry made his way into the antechamber with the other five champions, flanked very closely by his mother and the headmaster. Crouch, Moody, and the other two Headmasters' weren't far behind, and gratefully, Snape didn't even enter. The other champions, who had been chatting amongst themselves, stopped when Harry entered. Both Stephanie and Angelina said at the same time, "Harry?" They looked at each other and giggled slightly.

As soon as the door shut, Dumbledore whirled Harry around and asked, "This is very important, Harry. Did you, or did you not, put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" He looked intently into Harry's eyes as he said this.

Before, Harry didn't realise it, but the Headmaster had been using Legilimency on him. This time, Harry was wiser and slammed his Occlumency barriers up. It might raise Dumbledore's suspicion but it wouldn't do to reveal anything to him. Dumbledore seemed to recoil slightly and looked about to ask another question, but Lily answered for Harry first.

"Of course he didn't!" she said vehemently. "Right, Harry?"

Harry nodded, suddenly very angry at the situation. Harry ignored his mother in favour of catching Moody's eyes again. He tilted his head toward Karkaroff and Moody seemed to get the hint, but his eyes told Harry that there would be questions to answer later.

"I think I know what happened, Albus." he said, his magical eye swivelling in the direction of the Durmstrang Headmaster. "Or at least who tampered with the cup."

Karkaroff took this as his cue to flee but with the amount of wands in the room, he didn't get very far. He collapsed under a storm of red lights, his falcon squawking angrily and fluttering to the top of one of the shelves. The bird seemed to glower down at Harry, and Harry returned the gaze full force. Lily walked over to Harry and wrapped him in a hug. He returned the embrace gratefully and saw behind his mother that the other champions were standing still and looking lost. The other adults were all gathered around Karkaroff's fallen form like vultures until Dumbledore addressed Lily. "Lily, dear, please fetch Severus. We will need one of his potions." he said, his eyebrows raised meaningfully.

Lily seemed torn between comforting her son and obeying an order from the Headmaster, until Harry nudged her forward. She turned around and placed both hands on Harry's shoulders. "Will you be okay, hon?" she asked worriedly.

Harry nodded impatiently. "Go." He watched his mother hurry out of the antechamber to get Snivellus, then glanced back up at the bird, which was still glowering down at him. He didn't trust the falcon one bit. The adults had Karkaroff bound with magical ropes and propped against a wall, but he was still stunned. If Harry was right, Dumbledore had sent Lily to get some Veritaserum to question Karkaroff with. Moody caught his attention again; some of the suspicion in his eye had been replaced with respect. He stumped away from the group and over to Harry.

"Commendable job, Potter, on recognising the signs of the Imperius curse." he said. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

Harry waved the compliment off. "I'm just worried as to why he was put under the curse in the first place." he said. Honestly, Harry had a few ideas. It was most likely one of Voldemort's plans to get Harry or Neville in the tournament. But why he would resort to imperius-ing a former follower of his was beyond him. In the vision he had shared with Neville, it sounded like Crouch Jr. was there. The eastern European accent he had heard might have been Karkaroff, but again, why was the Cossack under the Imperius? He had to ask a question of Moody. It might blow his cover, but he needed to risk it. "Were you attacked before the term started?"

Moody seemed surprised. His magical eye swivelled grotesquely in its socket before coming to rest on Harry again. "Yes, but how did..." he paused. "Of course. Your father is an Auror."

Harry nodded, relieved that Moody seemed to come up with his own answer. "Were they caught?" he pressed on. Moody shook his head. "Did anyone know that you were taking a teaching job here this year?"

It looked like Moody was torn between being proud of Harry, and irritated at his line of questioning. "No-one that didn't need to know." he replied gruffly.

Frowning, Harry realised that that meant the entire Ministry knew, including Bartemius Crouch and by proxy, his Death Eater son. The difference here was, Moody had managed to defend himself this time so Voldemort had to alter his plans. It also meant that Crouch Jr. was somewhere in the school. Harry's first suspect was the bird. It was a long shot, but Crouch Jr. may have been an Animagus, or have been transfigured into a bird. He pointed out the glowering falcon to Moody. "Anything strange about that bird?" he asked.

Moody looked questioningly at Harry before looking at the falcon. After a few seconds he said, "Nothing really. It has a lot of magic around it, but then so do most familiars. Now why don't you go with the rest of the champions? I'm sure they have loads of questions to ask you." Harry could almost hear the, _As do I, but we can talk later,_ attached to the end.

Harry's frowned deepened. He might have been as paranoid as the grizzled old Auror standing next to him but he didn't trust the bird. He wished he had his map with him, so he could check. He resolved to keep watch on it, assuming that they let Karkaroff and his bird stay. As soon as he joined the other students, they began to bombard him with questions. The Durmstrang students wanted to know what was going on with their headmaster. Harry told them about the Imperius. The other three just wanted to know what was going on. Harry debated on whether or not to tell the truth. He decided to play ignorant.

"I don't know." he said with a shrug. "But I think things are going to get really strange from here on."


	8. The Truth Revealed, and a New Ally

A/N: Thanks once again to Seel'vor.

* * *

Harry didn't pay much attention to the other champions as they talked amongst themselves. (Well... except Krum. He was as detached and grumpy as always). Instead, he observed the room at large, particularly the antagonistic-looking falcon that hadn't taken its eye off Harry the entire time in the antechamber. His hands _itched_ with the desire to hex the bird, but he knew that too many unanswerable questions would be asked. Sure, he could probably make up a convincing story, but he just work up the effort. He would just have to take comfort in the fact that he had diverted Moody's suspicions from himself to the bird.

Harry's attention was split between trying to conceive a plan to find out who or what the bird really was and trying to decipher anything from the interrogation of Karkaroff. To his eternal frustration, not only was there a silencing charm cast on the area, but Harry couldn't make out any of their faces to read lips. The only information he got from observing was that his mother was too worried about him to pay much attention to the interrogation since she keep glancing in Harry's direction.

It was then that Harry realised that Angelina was trying to get his attention. He flushed slightly. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Angelina frowned in annoyance. "We just wanted to know how you did it." she said.

"How I did what?" Harry asked.

"How you got your name in the cup." Kiersten answered with a thick Scandinavian accent. "You are what? Thirteen years old?"

Harry's first impulse was to say he was an adult, but he quashed that quickly. He was still irritated that Kiersten thought he was younger than he supposedly was. "I'm fourteen, thank you." he corrected tersely. Then he smirked, though it was a bit forced. "And about the cup... what can I say? I'm just that damn good."

"Harry..." Angelina admonished, making Harry drop the act.

"I really don't know." he said with a sigh. "I didn't put my name in it. What I do know is I'm in the tournament for the long haul. And I have absolutely _no_ intention of going easy on any of you."

That comment seemed to stun the group of champions into silence. They blinked dumbfounded at Harry, as if unable to believe the audacity of a fourteen year old boy claiming to be able to beat them. But Harry didn't care. His threat stood as he resumed ignoring them and concentrated on the adults, who looked to be finishing things up. The overall attitude of the group seemed dejected and disappointed. Harry guessed that they weren't able to get much from Karkaroff.

Dumbledore waved his wand to bring down the privacy charm and the room was filled with voices again. Fortunately, this distracted the bird that was still boring holes through Harry with its eyes. Harry watched as it fluttered down and landed lightly on Karkaroff's chest. It seemed to be drinking in the conversation around it. Harry gritted his teeth and drew his wand. _Cover be damned._ he thought. He was going to subdue the falcon before the desire to do something killed him.

But as he stepped forward, a _Stupefy_ on his lips, Moody put his hand on Harry's shoulder to stop him. Harry glanced up at the grizzled Auror questioningly only to see Moody shake his head slightly. The message was clear. _Not yet._

Begrudgingly, Harry put his wand back in his pocket and, not for the first time, wished he had his custom leather wrist holster. It was a really fine piece of magic, charmed by Hermione to keep the wand secure regardless of the spells used to summon it. He couldn't suppress the smirk when he saw the disapproving look Moody gave him. _'Better wizards than yourself have lost buttocks, you know!'_ Moody had groused. Harry thought Moody probably had the same outlook here.

Both of them were distracted when Dumbledore spoke up. "Lily dear, would you be so kind as to take Headmaster Karkaroff to the hospital wing?"

Everyone in the room who knew Lily Potter expected her to nod her assent and heed the Headmaster's order. Needless to say, those that knew her were a bit stunned by what she said. "Albus, I think you can do it yourself." she ground out brusquely. "Someone snuck my son into this god-forsaken tournament and I think I would like to see to him first."

No-one, however, was as stunned as Dumbledore. Well... Harry was a bit mortified, and a bit pleased at his mother's doting but that went without saying. Dumbledore however, became white faced and looked rather confused for a moment. "Very well." he said after he had collected himself. "See to young Harry, then."

With that, Dumbledore levitated Karkaroff's limp body into the now empty great hall. Harry watched the bird follow them out and felt like kicking himself for the lost opportunity. But that only lasted until his mother hurried over. She began to smooth his robes and hair in motherly gestures while asking him if he was alright.

"Mum... Mum... I'm... Mum, I'm fine." Harry managed to mumble all while thoroughly embarrassed. The three female champion's giggling wasn't helping matters any.

"Are you sure, Harry?" Lily asked worriedly.

Harry was honestly touched by her caring. "Mum, trust me, I'm sure." he reassured her. Never having had a mother before, he didn't know exactly how to go about comforting her, but he took her hands in his anyway. "I know a few tricks, and I have you, Dad and Sirius to give me pointers. I'll be fine... I promise."

Lily had to take Harry's comfort at face value since Crouch cleared his throat noisily, clearly disapproving of the display in front of him. The uptight man pulled out a scroll and began to read from it. It was the same spiel as before; about how every champion was magically bound to compete in the tournament, though slightly altered since there were six champions instead of the four Harry remembered. Crouch cleared his throat once more, a gesture Harry quickly found irritating. "Now, as this is rather unorthodox, having so many champions in the tournament, we have decided to waive tradition and instead give you all a clue as to what the first task will be."

Everyone, Harry included hung on the silence that followed, and Harry found himself wishing that Crouch would just get on with it. He wasn't in the mood for any theatrics right now.

"Saint George."

It was, indeed, theatrical. A confused silence washed over the group, but Harry quickly understood. He wasn't sure just what the task entailed, but he knew for certain that it was going to involve dragons. _Great... just bloody marvellous. I have to defeat an evil bitch monster of death, and steal a golden egg from an industrial blast furnace... you want mayo on that?_ He groused to himself.

With that, the champions, Headmasters and teachers filed out of the room, Lily still holding Harry's hand comfortingly. Moody pulled Harry and his mother to the side. "Excuse me, Professor Potter," he said gruffly, "I need to have a quick word with your son."

Lily looked between Moody and her son before nodding and kissing Harry wetly on the cheek. Harry blushed, since the kiss was in front of _everyone_ but made no move to wipe his cheek. It was a kiss from his mother, after all. "Come visit me tonight, Harry?" Lily asked.

Harry nodded to his mother and turned back to Moody as his mother left. "What can I do for you, Professor?" he asked.

Moody stared at him with both eyes for a few long seconds, making Harry feel distinctly uncomfortable before speaking up. "I don't say this often, but I'm proud of you, Potter." he said.

"Er... thank you, sir." Harry said. He blinked bemusedly but was rather pleased as well. Moody wasn't exactly one to pass out flowery praise lightly... or at all. Having the veteran Auror give a compliment like that was a high honour. Still, Harry was just a tad wary. After having worked with the older man for nearly three years, Harry was pretty good at reading him, and that was becoming evident even in this reality: Moody clearly had something else on his mind.

Nodding stiffly, Moody went on. "But," he said shortly. _And here it comes... brace yourself..._ "You know something that you aren't letting on."

Harry schooled his face into a neutral mask, instantly regretting it as soon as he had done it. Moody would have noticed and been able to tell that he was right. Indeed, Moody's face contorted into a rictus of a grin that nearly made Harry shudder. "Perhaps, Professor. There are always... possibilities." Harry said slowly. "Or, perhaps I'm just very good."

Moody guffawed. "I like you, Potter. You remind me of your Da." he said. "Would you do me a favour? Talk with me later?" His eye swivelled in its socket, most likely surveying spots in the room where no normal person could hide. "Perhaps when no-one can eavesdrop?"

Frowning, Harry weighed his options carefully. On the one hand, having someone else 'in the know', so to speak, wouldn't be a bad thing. Especially when that someone was Moody. The man was well connected and good at what he did, and he would take the secret to the grave with him if asked. On the other, Harry was a bit disappointed that he had been transparent enough that someone could figure it out so soon. The fact that it was Moody, a man who suspected everyone, was irrelevant. Harry knew that he'd have to tighten up his behaviour so he didn't slip up in front of someone who actually knew him.

Eventually, Harry slowly nodded. "When would be a good time for you, Professor?" He asked.

Moody pondered for a moment. "How about after class next Thursday?" he responded.

"Okay." Harry said. Defence was the last class for the day, and Harry could easily afford to cut his dinner short. "It's a date."

* * *

Since it was still relatively early, Harry decided to brave the almost-certain pandemonium of the Gryffindor common room, getting the arguments, praise and party out of the way. Sure enough, as soon as a resigned looking fat lady swung away from the hole, the sound of a party in full swing spilled out into the corridor. The Wizarding wireless was blaring loudly and Butterbeer was flowing. Harry tentatively stepped into the room, and looked through the throng of people for his friends. Fortunately, no-one seemed to notice him; most people were still too busy celebrating the fact that there were two Hogwarts champions, both from Gryffindor.

It didn't take Harry long before he spotted Dean, who waved him over cheerfully. Dean unseated a second year from an armchair which Harry then plopped down in. "Hey, mate." Dean said cheerfully. "Just let me find the twins really quick."

Harry spotted Fred and George schmoozing with Alicia and Angelina. He poked Dean who got their attention and the twins soon joined them. As soon as they were seated, Dean and the twins stared at Harry expectantly. Harry started to feel a bit uncomfortable under the stares. "Well?" George said after a few very uncomfortable moments.

"'Well' what?"

"How'd you do it?" the other three said at the same time. Harry found it more than a little creepy that Dean was joining in on the twin-speak. He briefly wondered if it was some kind of contagious disease. It could explain a great many things...

"How'd I do what?" Harry knew what they were asking about, but he still didn't feel comfortable talking about it. Regardless of the attitude of acceptance he was experiencing now, he still didn't like the situation, and would be sure to pass that dislike on.

The twins looked at him exasperatedly and Dean sighed. "How did you get your name in the goblet?" he said slowly, enunciating every word clearly. "I mean, Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum here couldn't get past the age line. How did you?"

Harry frowned thoughtfully, partially regretting that he missed the aging potion incident this time. He figured that the best course of action would be to tell the truth and hope that they believed him. With a sigh, he explained. "I didn't get past the age line. I didn't even _try_ to get past the age line." he said simply.

"You're pulling our leg." Fred said. Harry shook his head seriously at him. "Really?"

"Really."

The twins seemed to communicate mentally with each other before turning back to him. "Harry, mate..." George began.

"You've been pranked." Fred finished.

_If only it were that simple,__ I'd be a whole lot happier._ Harry thought.

"Don't worry, though. You'll have our full support." George went on. Fred and Dean nodded enthusiastically and Harry couldn't help but feel gratified.

"Thanks, guys." he said thickly.

Once the serious and far-too-emotional-for-teenage-males stuff was out of the way, they started discussing their latest prank. Harry glanced surreptitiously around the room for his fiancée and finally spotting her, waved her over. He patted a spot next to him on the chair, but Hermione ignored him and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection and curling into his chest. Harry could feel her shaking slightly and did his best to comfort her. Thankfully, his friends seemed to catch the hint and left him alone to console Hermione.

"Are you going to be okay?" Harry asked while rubbing circles on her back. He knew better than to ask what was wrong, though he had a pretty good idea. Both of them were of the mind set that the other would talk about it when ready.

Hermione nodded mutely and sniffled. "Okay."

Harry leaned back in the chair to make himself more comfortable, making sure not to disturb Hermione (who seemed to have settled in comfortably herself), and looked about the room. He still couldn't spot his sister anywhere, but he did notice that his position was garnering more than a few looks. He tried not to flush too much, but didn't really care. Ron, however, almost scared him. The red haired boy was glowering at Harry with a look of unmitigated jealousy and hatred that raised more than a few hairs on the back of Harry's neck.

Neville, however, shocked Harry in a different way. He was staring at Harry with a pensive look on his face, as if he was putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Then Harry noticed the clock on the fire place mantle. It was almost 9pm and Harry had yet to visit his mother. He nudged Hermione gently. "Hey, 'Mione?"

"Hmm?"

"I needed to talk to my Mum before the night's out." he said. "Will you be okay without me for a while?"

Hermione hesitated but nodded against his chest. He nudged her gently again and she got off his lap with a small whimper before wiping her eyes. She'd been crying. Harry stood, gave her a warm hug and a quick but heartfelt kiss before leaving the common room to visit Lily's quarters.

* * *

Lily kept Harry up most of the night talking, mostly about nothing of consequence, so the next morning Harry nearly missed breakfast. He did manage to catch the tail end though and he saw that Hermione had gone on without him as had his friends and sister. Hermione had a seat saved at the table next to her and she was obviously expecting him. Quietly, Harry took the seat and leaned over to kiss her on the temple.

"Good morning." he said cheerfully.

Hermione smiled back and returned his kiss. "Morning yourself. Sleep well?" she asked.

"Like a rock." Harry answered as he scooped eggs on to his plate. He knew that any minute now, Hermione would break down and tell him what was wrong. He knew her well enough now to know that she felt guilty for doubting him, but also knew not to rub it in.

Sure enough... "I'm sorry, Harry. For last night." she said softly.

Harry put an arm around her waist and gave it a soft squeeze. "It's okay, I forgive you." he said simply.

Hermione pursed her lips. "You don't even know what I'm apologising for." she admonished playfully, rolling her eyes in that oh-so-lovable way.

"You're right. I don't." Harry said with a smirk. "But then again, when have I ever needed to? I forgive you."

With a half-hearted and exasperated scoff, Hermione leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek. "You're much too forgiving, you know." she said. Then, lowering her voice, she asked, "What _did_ happen last night? In the antechamber, I mean."

Harry took a few more bites of his breakfast, washing it down with some orange juice before answering. "Let me finish up, and we can talk about it in the RoR." Hermione nodded and waited patiently while Harry wolfed his food down. Then he took her hand as he stood, and the two of them made their way to the seventh floor.

Once again, the Room of Requirement looked like their London flat and Harry took a seat on his favourite couch. Hermione sat cross legged across from him and listened attentively as Harry told her everything that had happened the previous night. Hermione looked troubled, but resigned.

"By the way," Harry said as something occurred to him, "did you hear anything about Karkaroff?"

Hermione nodded. "Oh yeah." she said snapping her fingers. "Professor Dumbledore made a vague announcement that everything was alright and then Karkaroff joined his students for breakfast. He looked a little out of it, but I guess he was still suffering from the after effects of the Imperius."

Harry nodded.

"Do you know why your name came out yet?" Hermione asked him.

Harry chewed his lower lip as he thought. He did have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. "I don't know, but I have my theories." Harry said hesitantly. Hermione raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Well, first there's the fact that Karkaroff had been put under the Imperius curse. He may have tampered with the cup like Crouch did before."

Hermione nodded, filing that information away. "What else?" she prompted.

"Then there's that ruddy bird." Harry pouted. "I so wanted to take it out in the antechamber last night."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "There's... _something_ about it." she said. "Gives me the creeps. You think it might be an Animagus?"

"Something..." Harry conceded. "I'm not sure, but I don't think Crouch was an Animagus. It could be that Crouch's been transfigured into that bird, but human to animal transfiguration where the person keeps their mind is even beyond _Dumbledore_. I doubt that any of the Death Eaters could do it. _Maybe_ Voldemort, but he doesn't have his magic."

Hermione frowned thoughtfully and worried her lower lip, once again distracting Harry. "You know for certain that Crouch Jr. was in your vision?" she asked. Harry didn't answer immediately, and Hermione snapped her fingers in front of him. "Harry!"

"Huh?" Harry asked, snapping out of his fantasies. "Yeah, he was there."

"Could you remind me what you heard?"

Harry thought back to the vision he had had the second day of his arrival in this dimension. He remembered Voldemort asking Crouch if 'he was in place' and Crouch answering affirmatively. He told this to Hermione.

"So, that means there's a good chance that Crouch _is_ the bird." she said. "You know, we could always use the map to find out."

Smirking, Harry pulled the tattered parchment out of his pocket. "That's exactly what I was thinking." he said as he unfolded the map. He activated it with a tap of his wand and the password and he and Hermione studied it closely.

"As far as I can tell," Harry said slowly, "the bird doesn't leave Karkaroff's side. So, if we can find him, we can find Crouch."

As they passed quickly through the dorms, Harry had to stop and study his dorm. There, clear as crystal, was the name, 'Peter Pettigrew'. Harry was stumped. He was _certain_ that Wormtail was in his vision. Hermione seemed to pick up on his thoughts. "Do you think he sneaks out to report to Voldemort?" she asked.

Harry frowned. "He has to!" he said fiercely. "But how... I don't know. Ron doesn't let him out of the cage." Harry growled in frustration. "I need to write to Sirius and find out if there's a warrant out for Pettigrew's arrest."

Hermione nodded and they went back to scanning the map, finally locating Karkaroff. He was on his ship and nearly overlapping his name, was the name Archimedes. But neither of them could locate Bartemius Crouch Jr. anywhere on the map. "Is there any way to fool the map?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head slowly. "To my knowledge, no. That could just mean that no-one had in our world." he said, shrugging. "I can always ask. I'm sure my Dad would be more than happy to tell me, so long as I tell him it's for pranking."

That earned him a disapproving frown from his fiancée. "I guess that's that." she said.

"Oh!" Harry said suddenly, glancing down at the DADA classroom. Sure enough, Alastor Moody was in his office. "Ha!" Harry shouted triumphantly. He stuck his tongue out at Hermione. "I told you! I _told_ you!" Showing incredible reflexes, Hermione's hand lashed out and she grabbed Harry's tongue when he stuck it out again. "Sowwy..." Harry said.

"What about Moody, anyway?" Hermione asked letting go of Harry's tongue. "You said he seemed suspicious of you?"

"Mad-Eye is suspicious of _everyone_." Harry said with a laugh.

"Harry..."

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead reflexively. "I think I should tell him, at least about me."

Hermione frowned. "Why?" she asked.

"Because he's already suspicious, and I think he's going to catch on sooner or later," Harry said. "You've seen how he keeps an eye on me. And he told me as much last night."

Harry watched Hermione start worrying her lip again as she thought. "You're right." she said at last. "It would be best to get him on our side first, before he goes to Dumbledore or someone. When are you going to talk to him?"

"Thursday." Harry said simply.

Hermione nodded, then kissed Harry goodbye saying that she wanted to get some research done in the library. Harry went in the opposite direction to Gryffindor tower to write his letters. They were short and to the point.

_Sirius,_

_I am sure you have heard by now that I got shoved into the tournament __again__. I don't know how much you know about it, but there are six champions this time, and Neville isn't one of them. Here's the thing; Hermione and I couldn't find Crouch anywhere on the map, so I have a few questions for you. First, while we were searching, we came across Wormtail on the map. Is there anything you think I should do about this? I mean, any warrants or anything or is he suspected to be dead here?_

_Secondly, is there any way to trick the Map into thinking you're someone else? There is this absolutely creepy bird that Hermione and I think might be Crouch Junior, but it shows up as 'Archimedes' on the map. Anyway, write back as soon as you get this._

_Harry_

Double checking that he said everything he wanted to, Harry penned a similar note to his father, leaving out everything about Wormtail and hurried to the Owlery, where he was bitten harshly by Hedwig for neglecting her. After promising to visit her more often (and deliver more treats, and love, honour, cherish and obey her), Harry sent Hedwig off to deliver the letters to Sirius and his father.

* * *

Harry got Sirius' reply the next morning at breakfast. He took the envelope from Hedwig and gave her a couple of pieces of bacon as a reward. Sirius' letter was as short as Harry's was.

_Harry,_

_Good to hear from you, kid. Anyway, Pettigrew isn't important here. He went missing after betraying the Longbottoms but hasn't been seen since, so the department assumes that he is out of the country or dead. If you get the chance to nab him, do so, but not if it brings undue attention to yourself. As for the map, you'd have to ask Moony. He's the one who designed the thing. Your dad and I were the spell casters. I'll send a letter out to him and get back to you ASAP._

_Sirius_

Once again, Harry had to 'hurry up and wait'. _Bugger it..._

* * *

Things were pretty laid back until the following Thursday. Malfoy finally confronted Harry in the halls between lunch and DADA, but Harry simply ignored him. Even the jab at his mother and 'Mudblood slut of a girlfriend' weren't enough to goad Harry into a fight. He was too nervous about his upcoming talk with Moody that evening. But when Harry simply walked away from the blond ponce, Malfoy drew his wand to curse Harry in the back. He never got the chance.

Moody, who had been watching from an adjacent corridor, disarmed Malfoy and turned him into a ferret with two flicks of his wand. Harry couldn't help himself and had to laugh at the irony of it all when McGonagall came along to ream Moody a new one again.

It seemed that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Harry drifted through DADA in a daze, heedless of the murderous looks both Ron and Draco were giving him. He snapped out of it though, when Moody announced the reason they were learning how to duel. The fourth years were going to have a duelling tournament with the first place prize being a guaranteed 'O' for the year and fifty house points. Excited murmurs washed through the class, Harry included. But Hermione looked apprehensive. He elbowed her lightly. "Oh, come on." he teased mischievously. "It'll be fun. A perfect opportunity to pick on some kids with the approval of the staff."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "Excuse me?" she said reprovingly.

With a sigh, Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Hermione, you know I didn't mean it like that." he said. "It'll be a good opportunity for us to see just how strong Neville really is."

Hermione looked thoughtful and 'hmm'd'. "Okay." she said at last. "Just don't hurt anyone... too badly."

Class eventually ended, and Harry went stayed behind to talk with Moody after a good luck kiss from Hermione. He approached the grizzled old Auror, and unconsciously stood at attention. "You wished to speak with me, sir?" he asked.

Moody's eyebrow rose speculatively. "Good posture there, Potter." he said. "Either your father is more of a military man than I thought, or it's another facet of what I've been observing."

Harry couldn't stop the wince from his face, confirming to Moody what he had suspected. Moody had been on to Harry for a while now. "What... what have you been observing, sir?"

"That you are a well trained Auror, and have an eye for detail. You're also careless and impulsive." Moody summarised. Harry only then noticed that Moody's wand was levelled covertly at him from Moody's waist. "I've also noticed that you are passing all of your classes with flying colours and aren't even trying. So, who are you really?"

Harry sighed then tried to wet his mouth which had gone dry. He hoped that this discussion wouldn't lead to a fight between the two of them, because while Harry was certain that he would win, it wouldn't be pleasant for either of them. Finally, he decided that it would be better to get things out of the way. "Veritaserum, truth charm or oath, sir?" he asked.

"What?"

"I know quite a bit about you, Professor, and your paranoia is... legendary. You won't trust me unless I offer something. So, potion, charm or oath?" Harry explained.

The corner of Moody's mouth curled into a smirk. "Well, you do seem to have done your research well. I think an oath will suffice... for now."

Knowing that Moody would just as soon curse him when he drew his wand for the oath, Harry instead made it wandlessly. He raised his right hand and said, "I swear on my magic that everything I say for the next hour will be the whole and unblemished truth." There was a faint golden glow as the oath took effect. "Ask away sir."

Moody's eyebrows were raised in astonishment from the casual display of wandless magic. His normal guarded expression quickly settled back into place and he asked his first question. "Who are you? Name and rank, if you will."

"I am Harry James Potter, Auror, first class." Harry responded. Moody blinked at him owlishly for a moment.

"Really?" he asked, and Harry nodded. "Take a load off, Potter."

Harry did so, while Moody remained standing.

"You mind telling me just how a fourteen year old boy believes that he's a first class Auror?" Moody growled.

Harry hesitated before answering. "Perhaps I should just start from the beginning?" he suggested. When Moody nodded, Harry told a summarised version of everything from Voldemort's second downfall at Harry's hands up until that point. Half an hour later, he finished his story.

Moody had a frown on his face and was pacing the front of the room as he pondered everything Harry had told him. "So, you are from another dimension, where _you_ were the 'Boy-Who-Lived', and you defeated You-Know-Who, before coming here with your fiancée, that Granger girl?" he asked. Harry nodded at the accurate summation. "You'll have to excuse me if I'm a bit sceptical."

"Perfectly understandable." Harry conceded. "But had I told any lies, I would have had my magic stripped. I assure you; I'm still quite magical."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the two of them while Moody thought. "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked.

Harry crossed his legs under the desk and leaned forward. He was sure Moody already knew, but he explained his reasons anyway. "Well, you're suspicious of me, even more suspicion than your usual standards. You're also annoyingly competent. With you watching me so closely, I'd have dropped a bollock and been caught. If I tell you all this now, you're in the know and can work with me."

"You know me too well, Potter." Moody growled. "Was I your squad leader, or something?"

Smiling, Harry said, "You trained me in Auror Academy."

Moody stopped his pacing, a look of pride and disappointment on his face. "I mustn't have done too good a job if you're blabbing all your secrets to me now." he said with a crooked grin on his face.

Harry laughed and stood up. "Well, for one, I trust you sir," he said. "And two, I'm fairly confident that if you tried anything, I could put you down. I did kill Voldemort, after all."

At an unspoken agreement, the conversation was over. They both knew better than to talk to anyone about this, but Harry made sure that Moody knew Hermione was with him too. Moody stopped Harry at the door to the classroom. "Oh, Potter, one more thing."

Harry stopped. "Yes, sir?"

"About the first task," he said. "I'm sure you already know that it will involve dragons?"

Harry nodded.

"Good, good. Well, I suggest you get cosy with Johnson." he said with a smirk.

* * *

Over the course of the next week, something was tickling the back of Harry's mind. He had the feeling that he was forgetting something, but it wasn't until the following Friday that he remembered what it was. That Friday was the Weighing of the Wands. The last time, Snape had been none too happy when Dennis Creevey interrupted his class to take Harry into the antechamber for the interview and wand inspection. Harry was sure that the sparks would fly this time, especially considering the confrontation he and Snape had a few weeks ago.

Sure enough, in the middle of potions that afternoon, little Colin Creevey stuck his head into the dungeon. "Excuse me?" he called timidly.

Snape stopped in the middle of his antidote lecture and immediately went red faced. "What do you _want_, Creevey?" he hissed.

Colin paled dramatically but soldiered on. Harry felt very sorry for him. "I-I need to-to collect Harry Potter. Mr. Bagman wants him u-upstairs." he stuttered fearfully.

Harry could hear Snape's teeth grind in his frustration and his black eyes narrowed in Colin's direction. "It can wait." he spat.

Harry took the initiative and started to pack his stuff up. He whisperingly asked Hermione to take notes for him, in case anything was different.

"N-no, sir, it can't. Mr. Bagman needs him now... photographs or something." Colin said. Harry had to give Colin credit. The kid had balls. Small and stunted, true, but he was using them to full advantage.

Snape was ready to ream Colin a new one, but he noticed Harry finish packing his things. "Where do you think you're going, Potter?' he snapped. "The lesson isn't over."

Harry simply finished up and closed his rucksack without looking at Snape. "Hermione will keep taking notes for me. I need to go."

The atmosphere in the class was tense as everyone waited to see what would happen. It was no secret that Snape hated Harry Potter, even here in this dimension. "You will sit down, Potter." Snape said quietly, dangerously. "I did not give you permission to leave."

Harry had long ago forgiven Snape for his attitude, since Snape sacrificed his own life to save Harry's in the battle that ended Voldemort. But it was hard for to remember just_ why_ he had forgiven the greasy git here and now. Harry knew he should probably wait for Colin to fetch Dumbledore to come and excuse him from the class, but something deep inside of him just couldn't wait.

He was suddenly angry at Snape, and wanted a fight. "That isn't a problem, _Professor_, since I didn't _ask_ for permission to leave. You don't like it? Stop me." he challenged.

Snape stood there rigid and fuming, but made no move to intercept Harry as he left the class room. He vaguely wondered what would come from this situation. He almost hoped Snape would attack him again, that way, Harry could claim self-defence when he killed the man.

In his anger, Harry's strides were long, and Colin had to practically jog to keep up with him. Harry glanced at the small boy out of the corner of his eyes, and nearly groaned out loud when he saw the hero worship shining in them. "Thanks for fetching me." he told Colin.

Colin nodded eagerly. "That was bloody _amazing_, Harry!" he gushed. "Do you know how many people wish they could tell Snape off like you just did?"

Harry rolled his eyes, but answered anyway. "I have a pretty good idea." he said.

Colin was fairly quiet this time. Since Harry wasn't the 'Boy-Who-Lived', Colin didn't have that hero worship complex. It briefly occurred to Harry to ask Colin about Neville, but Harry didn't want to chance setting the little third year off.

Before long, they had arrived at the small unused classroom, Harry bidding Colin goodbye and entered the room, where the rest of the champions, their Headmasters and the judges were already waiting. Ollivander, as well as a few select reporters, were also present. Thankfully, Harry didn't see hide nor hair of Rita Skeeter.

"Any difficulties getting out of class, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked once the door closed behind him. Harry shook his head all the while wondering just what Dumbledore knew. There was no twinkle in the old man's eye, but he nodded all the same. "Very well. Mr. Ollivander, if you will?"

Nathan Wayne, the thin boy with glasses from Salem stepped forward first and handed his wand to Ollivander. The old man took it reverently. "Ah... 10", flexible... oak and griffin feather..." he breathed. Ollivander gave it a wave and a flock of sparrows flew from the tip, twittering and chirping.

Ollivander handed the wand back, proclaiming it to be in perfect working order. Nathan took it and stepped back to join the rest of the champions, and his school mate, Stephanie Brewer stepped forward. She smiled again at Harry, but he frowned back. Her smiles were unreadable and were beginning to become annoying.

"Pine... 9½" with a tail feather from... oh my... an Abraxan? Intriguing..." Ollivander said. He gave the wand a wave saying, "_Orchideous!_" before handing the wand and the flowers he had just conjured to the red haired American.

Harry didn't really pay attention, since he remembered what Krum's wand was, (hornbeam and dragon heartstring) but he did catch what Kiersten's was; ash with a dragon heartstring as well. Angelina's wand was 12" long, willow with a unicorn hair.

While Ollivander went about checking the champion's wands, making flowers, birds and what not spout from the ends, Harry noticed Ludo Bagman's beady eyes focus on him. There was an unrecognisable glint in Bagman's eyes and Harry made a mental note to avoid the portly man. When Ollivander made it around to him, Harry handed it over. Harry was glad this time that he had kept up his wand, and it was shiny and polished. Ollivander took it with a smile and waved it grandly. But it only sputtered a few normal looking sparks.

"Odd..." Ollivander remarked. "This wand doesn't feel bad." He waved it again, but only got a few sparks like before.

Harry took it from the wand maker and cast a silent _Stupefy_ into a dark corner of the room. The spell cast without a hitch and Harry handed it back to Ollivander with a shrug. Ollivander waved the wand again, once again getting nothing but sparks and frowned. "I guess it's temperamental." Harry offered.

"Indeed." Ollivander said dryly as he handed it back. "It seems to be in working order."

Harry took the wand with a wry smile and pocketed it.

Dumbledore clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone in the room. "Now, if I can have your attention for just a moment," he called. "Since this is one of the most... unorthodox Tri-Wizard Tournaments in recent history, we have decided to allow the local media to conduct interviews with the champions."

Harry noticed that most of the media shark's eyes seemed to be on him, and he was pretty sure why. While there was not official rule that the contestants had to be of age, the Department of Magical Games and Sports had imposed that rule, and Harry had seemingly broken it. They would most likely want to know why. But Harry wasn't in the mood to make anything up, so instead, he made himself as inconspicuous as possible with the help of a discreetly cast disillusionment and notice-me-not charm, managing to get out of the room without giving a single interview or photo. He imagined that there would be hell to pay later, but for now, Harry was happy.

At least, he was happy... until dinner. Hermione left early, saying that she had a headache, and was going to go to bed. So Harry left the Great Hall, ignoring Dumbledore's disapproving gaze and headed up to the Room of Requirement to check on his basilisk egg. He didn't notice when someone followed him out. He made it all the way to the seventh floor hallway, in sight of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, when it happened.

He felt more than heard the spell behind him, and knew it was both dark and that he wouldn't be able to block it in time. While simultaneously reaching for his wand, Harry cast a wandless shield charm and dove to the side. He was glad he did so, since the dark curse went through the shield like a hot knife through butter. Harry got to his feet and whirled defensively to face his attacker, his wand ready.

But he wasn't ready to see Draco Malfoy walking arrogantly down the corridor toward him. It was all he could do to keep from laughing.

"Didn't I tell you to watch your back, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "Now, you're alone on the seventh floor, with no one to help you."

Harry scoffed and dropped his guard, but didn't put his wand away. "Really..." he drawled. "You think _you_ can stop me? That's almost funny. Shouldn't you be attacking Longbottom or something?"

Malfoy's calm mask shattered revealing the hatred underneath and Harry was momentarily taken back by its intensity. "He's next!" he spat. "But I figure you'll be good practice. Oh, how my lord will reward me..."

Something was off about this whole situation. For one, Draco Malfoy wasn't intent on joining Voldemort until well into their sixth year. And the look in his eye was off. There was insanity there, a look Harry hadn't seen since...

"Crouch..." Harry growled. The rapturous look on Malfoy's face turned into one of shock briefly before changing back. The monster in his chest woke up again, for the first time since the Quidditch world cup. Harry's vision tinged red and the monster inside him called for Crouch's blood, but he managed to beat it back to ask something. "Just where have you been hiding?"

"Oh, I couldn't tell you that." Crouch said in a sing song voice. "If for some... inexplicable reason I fail to kill you, what then?" He was clearly insane, but the scary, smart kind of insane. _A fine line between genius and insanity..._

Finally, Harry's temper got away from him and he cast his first spell. "_Everbero!_" he shouted, pouring everything he had into the bludgeoning hex. Crouch managed to dodge to the side just in time, the hex demolishing the far wall but Harry pressed on, firing another bludgeoning hex at Crouch's prone form. This time, Crouch had to raise a shield and the hex clashed against the shield with a loud bang. The impact sent Crouch skidding across the rough stone floor.

As Crouch rolled to his feet, he cast an entrail-expelling curse at Harry, followed by a Cruciatus_._ Harry parried the first curse with the tip of his wand and sidestepped the second. "_Osabdere!_" Harry shouted, casting a bone removal curse he had learned during his first exploration of the Chamber of Secrets. The bone removal curse was what ended Voldemort. Harry had used it to remove Voldemort's entire pelvis, crippling the dark lord, and allowing Harry to decapitate the monster with the Sword of Gryffindor.

He wasn't as lucky this time, since Crouch dodged to the side, painfully colliding with the corridor wall. Harry's senses returned to him, and he realised that this narrow corridor was a terrible place for a duel, when he had to dodge and shield a flurry of cutting curses from Crouch's wand. Still, being a master of Transfiguration had its advantages. Harry cast another bludgeoning hex in Crouch's direction, but counted on him to dodge. The hex wasn't aimed at Crouch so much as it was aimed at his feet, and the impact pulverised one of the flagstones in the floor, creating plenty of material for Harry's spells.

"_Crucio!_" Crouch shouted again, at the same time that Harry summoned the debris to himself. The torture curse was cast wild telling Harry that Crouch was panicked, and Harry didn't even need to dodge. The rage he had suppressed surged again, but Harry beat it back savagely. He needed to think clearly, or he would most likely get killed.

Harry quickly animated the larger bits of flagstone to orbit in concentric rings around him before transfiguring the smaller bits into blades that he banished in Crouch's direction. Crouch managed to get a shield up in time, but one of the blades imbedded itself deep into his calf, and he fell to the ground with a yell.

"You really need to learn to guard your legs better, Barty." Harry taunted.

"Die!" Barty screeched. Harry winced. Things were getting very loud; people were bound to notice sooner or later. Harry needed to end this soon. Almost predictably, Crouch cast an _Avada Kedavra_ at Harry. But Harry quickly transfigured one of his orbiting rocks into a slab of marble that simply absorbed the curse. Harry then banished the hundred pound stone at Crouch.

Crouch fell to the floor to avoid the slab, and with a grunt of effort, Harry stopped its momentum, changed it into a bear trap and guided it right onto Crouch. The steel trap clanged shut on Crouch's shoulder with a sickening crunch and Crouch screamed. Mercilessly, Harry shouted, "_Accio Bear trap!_" The steel jaws ripped wetly out of Crouch's flesh, leaving his shoulder a pulpy mess, and Crouch laying on the stone floor in shock.

Harry readied his wand and approached Crouch's prone form, a _Stupefy_ on his lips. When Crouch twitched, Harry ruthlessly stunned him. But Harry wasn't prepared for Crouch to be portkeyed away.

One thing didn't make any sense to Harry; why, after all the troubling of entering him into the bloody tournament, would they try to kill him? Had Harry's name coming out of the Goblet been a mistake? And why, for that matter, weren't they trying to _capture_ him instead of kill him? Harry thought they needed him alive for the ritual. But then it occurred to him that they may only need his blood.

Harry scrabbled around the corridor with a _Lumos _spell and searched for any blood he may have spilled. Fortunately, he didn't find any but he did find plenty of his opponents.

Hearing voices coming down the hall, Harry hurriedly hid in the Room of Requirement. Once the door clicked shut and locked behind him, and he was safe, Harry let loose with a flurry of frustrated swearing. The attack had raised more questions than it answered.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Harry was sore and stiff from the fight, despite not having been hit with any spells. His body wasn't conditioned for that kind of duelling and he vowed to get into a decent semblance of shape. He'd ended up having to sleep in the Room of Requirement, since the faculty had posted a guard on the seventh floor, and Harry didn't have his cloak or map on him. Finally, he'd managed to sneak out at 4am.

Hermione had waited for him in the common room, and he explained to her what had happened while she clung to him. The also checked the map; sure enough, Archimedes the falcon was missing from the map.

Dumbledore took a moment to inform the school that while the Tournament was going on, there would be an 8pm curfew for all students until the mystery of the seventh floor was solved.

"Wonderful." Harry groused. Not only had he failed to capture Crouch when he had the opportunity, but now things were going to be that much more difficult.


	9. Hogsmeade

A/N: Smallest chapter yet, but I didnt want to get into the next part too early. Anyway, thanks once again to Seel'vor for betaing for me.

* * *

The following Sunday, after lunch, Harry received a letter from Moody, requesting a meeting in his office to talk about the attack the previous night. Actually, it was more a demand disguised as a request, but Harry didn't really care. He had planned on talking with Moody about it anyway.

He and Hermione hadn't really discussed anything that morning either. Harry only told her that he had been attacked by Crouch Jr. on his way to check on the basilisk egg. Hermione made him promise to tell her more when he felt up to it, so Harry decided to bring Hermione with him to the meeting with Moody.

So, the afternoon found the three of them in the cramped Defence Against the Dark Arts office, talking about the previous night over a pot of tea. The office wasn't too different from the way Crouch Jr. had it set up in Harry's first fourth year. Various detection artefacts were scattered about, though this time, Moody actually checked them before taking his seat. All of them. Twice.

Harry took a sip of his now-lukewarm tea. "So, after potions, I was on my way up to the seventh floor to..." he trailed off, almost having revealed the basilisk egg. He looked back and forth between Moody and Hermione. Hermione looked slightly panicked and shook her head.

"To what, Potter?" Moody prodded. Both eyes were fixed firmly on Harry's face and Harry had to resist the urge to fidget. It really was an intimidating stare.

Harry couldn't see any way out of it. Moody was enough of a Ministry man that should Harry reveal that he had a basilisk in his possession, Moody might arrest him. And Harry didn't want to reveal the secret of the Room of Requirement unless he _absolutely_ had to. He needed a reason to be on the seventh floor, and claiming that it was a short cut was right out too. Moody was once a student here, and would undoubtedly know that the corridor where the fight took place was well out of the way. He could always claim he and Hermione were snogging up there.

Once glance at Hermione though told Harry that it was a bad idea. His fiancée seemed to be able to read his mind and glowered at him silently.

Seeing no other explanation, Harry decided to tell Moody about the room, but wrapped in yet another little white lie. "There is this... room, up on the seventh floor, that only shows up when someone really needs it. I was doing a report for History on that particular room and was on my way up there to do a little more research when I was attacked."

Moody raised one sceptical eyebrow. Whether he didn't believe the line about the project, or the room, or the entire story was unclear.

"It's true." Hermione piped in. "We call it the Room of Requirement."

Moody's brow lowered. "Go on." he prompted.

Harry cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was up there, on my way to the room, when I heard Draco Malfoy behind me. It wasn't Malfoy; it was Crouch polyjuiced as him." Harry hesitated for a moment and scratched his chin. "I think." he added as an after thought.

Moody looked genuinely shocked, a look that genuinely disturbed Harry as much as Dumbledore looking frightened did. He was so surprised that he stopped pacing the room. "Bartemius Crouch?" he blurted.

"Junior." Hermione added while Harry was lost in thought.

Mad-eye seemed even more sceptical about that. "Barty Crouch Jr. has been in Azkaban for thirteen years now." he said sounding proud. "I brought the little shite down myself."

"Can you be sure he's still in prison?" Harry asked finally. Moody nodded and Harry frowned. "I could have sworn I saw him once at the attack after the world cup. Then last night I'm sure it was him."

Harry stood up and began to pace himself while he pondered things. Could someone be polyjuiced as Crouch Jr.? If so, why on earth would they do that? There was nothing to be gained by masquerading as an Azkaban lifer. Furthermore, why would they be masquerading as a lifer masquerading as Draco Malfoy? Could someone even do that? It all combined into a puzzle that made Harry's head hurt to think about it. But no, he was sure of what he had seen and heard.

Hermione piped up with her own brand of useful information. "How are you sure that it's him?" she asked. "Do the guards regularly check on the prisoners? I thought that the Dementors delivered the meals."

Moody frowned pensively. "Aye, lass, you're right." he said. "I'll talk to my contact in the MLE and have someone check up on Junior." He turned back to Harry, who was still pacing the length of the room. "Back to the attack, Potter. By the way, that was some impressive damage to the corridor. A lot of blood spilled, too."

Harry waved the thin compliment off. Then he had an epiphany. "Hey, what about the blood in the corridor up there? There should have been enough of it for a blood analysis to determine who it was that attacked me, right?"

"Did your attacker happen to change back in the middle of the fight?" Moody asked. Harry shook his head no. "Then the blood would identify as Malfoy's. It doesn't matter anyway." he added with a sour look. "Dumbledore had his elves clean the hall up almost immediately. Barmy old fool..."

The revelation that Moody didn't respect Dumbledore as much as he had thought was a shocker to Harry. It rather masked the disappointment that they wouldn't be able to identify Crouch Jr. right away. "Bah." he snarled. "I know what I saw. And I know that it was Crouch polyjuiced as Malfoy. Malfoy isn't... insane enough to attack me alone."

Moody shrugged but conceded the point. "I'll get my contact to look into it first thing in the morning." he said. Then he stumped over to Harry, his face grave. "Now that we know You-Know-Who is after you, have you been watching out for Portkeys and surprise attacks?"

Hermione chipped in again with information from her favourite book. "Only the Headmaster and Hogwarts staff can create Portkeys that work in and out of Hogwarts, and only then with the Headmaster's permission."

Harry felt the blood drain from his face and he slumped weakly back into his chair. Portkeys were the one thing that he hadn't considered. He wasn't as paranoid as his mentor, but Harry thought he did a good job watching his back, and he felt confident enough in his own abilities to take care of himself. But Portkeys just needed a second of contact. Just because only staff and Dumbledore himself could create Portkeys, didn't mean someone couldn't smuggle one in. As far as Harry knew, the wards around the school didn't negate any Portkeys being brought in. And Harry also wasn't sure if any other members of the staff (besides Snape) were Death Eaters or sympathisers. Frankly, the thought made him sick.

"That doesn't stop someone from smuggling one through the wards." Moody said gruffly, echoing Harry's thought.

Nodding weakly, Harry reached for his cup and drained the dregs of his tea almost mechanically. "I still don't know why Crouch didn't do that the last time..." he said.

Hermione stood and gave Harry a warm hug. "It might not make you feel any better, but he couldn't. Voldemort needed to conduct the ritual on that day for astronomical reasons." she said softly.

Harry shook his head. "He still could have portkeyed me away and kept me prisoner until they needed me."

"You would have escaped." Hermione said confidently, plopping down in Harry's lap. She continued to hug him.

"You don't know that. It happened long before we discovered the library." Harry argued back. "And let's face it... I was stupid back then."

Hermione looked ready to argue her point, but Moody interrupted. "I take it this has happened before?" he asked. Hermione sat in Harry's lap and fumed.

Harry nodded. "Something like it." he said. But he differed to Hermione, since she looked like she wanted to talk so badly she was fit to burst.

Hermione told the story, sparing no detail. "In the original timeline... dimension... _whatever_, Harry was also entered into the Tournament. Unlike this time, though, there were four champions, not six. Your counterpart had been taken over by Junior and was helping Harry behind the scenes."

Moody nodded slowly. "So, you were the fourth champion and had a Death Eater helping you."

Harry cringed. "Could we phrase it slightly differently, please?"

Surging forward, Hermione continued. "The first task was fairly simple, from a preparation point of view. Harry summoned a broom to out-fly the Hungarian Horntail. The second task was held at the bottom of the lake, having to rescue hostages." She blinked. "I was one of them. It was rather disconcerting falling asleep in Dumbledore's office, then waking up when a half-shark drags you to the surface of a freezing lake." She nodded at Harry as he put his arm around her supportively.

"The third task was the breaker. Junior was patrolling the edge of the maze, taking out the creatures and attacking the other champions." Hermione suppressed a smile at Moody's face. "Yeah, it was quite a scandal, really." She sobered up. "Harry and one of the fellow champions, Cedric Diggory, got portkeyed to a graveyard in Little Hangleton. He was gone for over an hour. When they came back, Cedric was dead and Harry was seriously injured. I was... terrified..." She trailed off, prompting Harry to tighten his grip around her.

When she was done Moody's expression was mixture of disbelief and outrage. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, Moody finally settling on something to say. "You flew a broom... against a horntail?"

Harry looked at Moody incredulously. Of everything to take from the story, including the fact that he had been ambushed, captured and impersonated by Crouch Jr., Moody was stuck on the fact that Harry flew his Firebolt against a dragon... "Yes." he said.

"He really was stupid back then." Moody said to Hermione. Hermione laughed at the gobsmacked expression on Harry's face.

"Oi!" he barked out. "That's not funny!"

Moody waved Harry's protestations off while Hermione tried to control her mad giggling. "That's not the point." Moody said. "I'm more worried that I was taken by surprise by Crouch and no one noticed." There was the Moody that Harry knew and loved. "In fact, how do you know that I'm me now?"

Harry shrugged indifferently. "I know you, that's why." he explained, though he was learning new things about the mad old Auror every time they spoke. "That, and Crouch Jr. isn't in disguise anywhere in the castle."

"How do you know that?" Moody asked.

Harry and Hermione shared a brief look before Harry pulled his map from his pocket. He had taken to carrying both it and his cloak with him at all times. Good old paranoia. "This," Harry explained, spreading the map out on the desk, "is the Marauder's Map."

Moody looked at the blank piece of parchment impassively. Harry knew what Moody saw; a blank piece of parchment that radiated magic. "It's not very map like, is it?"

"You need the password." Harry elaborated. He tapped the wand with his index finger. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The spidery black lines spread across the map revealing the layout of the castle. Small black dots labelled with their owners names were gathered about in common rooms, or the great hall or outside on the ship in the black lake and ghost train. Harry pointed to the Defence classroom and the three dots with their names. "This is us." he explained. "The map keeps track of everyone on the castle grounds and in the castle herself in real time. If I move..." Harry unseated Hermione and moved to the far corner of the office. "...over here, the map reflects it."

Moody looked impressed. "This is a fine tool you have here, Potter," he said. "But what if someone is under an invisibility cloak, or polyjuiced?"

Harry couldn't help the smile on his face. "It doesn't matter. The map knows who you are really, and where you are. For instance..." Harry pointed to the Gryffindor common room. It was sneaky of him, but he didn't want the rat to remain free for much longer.

Both Moody and Hermione's eyes widened at the name, Peter Pettigrew. "You didn't tell me he was in the castle!" Hermione shouted at the same time Moody said, "I didn't know he was still alive!"

Properly admonished, Harry ducked his head slightly. "Yeah, well, he is." he said defensively. "And I was told not to bother with him yet... as much as I'd like to see him dead..."

Neither of the other two had anything to say to that, so they all looked back at the map. "Besides," Harry went on, "it was the only example of an Animagus I could think of."

Hermione looked up sharply at him, and Harry shook his head slightly. He might have trusted Moody more than anyone else in the castle right now, but he didn't want to spill all his secrets. Hermione seemed to understand and graced Harry with a small, loving smile before looking back at the map. Harry went back to his explanation.

"Anyway, this is how I know Crouch isn't in the castle." He pointed to the ship. "That bird, according to the map, was named Archimedes, and isn't anywhere on the map." He pointed to the Slytherin common room where Malfoy was surrounded by his cronies. "And Draco Malfoy is still Draco Malfoy."

Moody studied the map for a while longer before looking almost awed. "Impressive piece of magic, Potter." he said.

"Honestly, I didn't make it." Harry told him. "It was my dad, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin." An unreadable expression crossed Moody's face briefly making Harry wonder what the grizzled old Auror was thinking.

"Thank you for informing me of this, Harry." Moody said. The use of Harry's first name didn't go unnoticed by Harry. Before the veil, Moody still hadn't taken to calling Harry by his first name, instead using 'Potter'. It filled him with a sense of pride. "Now, why don't you and Hermione go out and enjoy the rest of your weekend? I'll get back to you as soon as I find out about Crouch."

Harry nodded, got up to leave and waited for Hermione to finish her tea before they left the office. They decided to go hang out in the common room and finish one of their essays for McGonagall. As they walked, Harry thought about what was going on. Initially, he had decided to lay low and enjoy a second chance at a school life. But as always, fate had other plans and shoved him head first into a mess. He was tired. He had fought his war, and honestly, he regretted becoming an Auror. It meant more fighting, but it was the only thing he could think of himself as doing. That isn't to say that he didn't enjoy his job. He was good at it, and it was, honestly, easy work for someone like him. But he'd rather play Quidditch or teach for a living. He just didn't think he would be good at it.

As for the whole Tri-Wizard fiasco he found himself in this time, he decided that it was nice to have an ally besides Hermione and Sirius. True, his sister knew his secret, but she was still a kid, and Harry had no desire to force her to grow up to fast. It had happened to him before, and he resented Dumbledore for it. No, Moody was just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.

Hermione nudged Harry lightly in the ribs, breaking him out of his pensive mood. He looked at her inquisitively. "Knut for your thoughts?" she asked.

Harry waved her off as another, slightly horrible idea occurred to him. Just why had Hermione had a headache after potions the other day? Snape was a master Legilimens, though his battering ram technique left a lot to be desired. Harry knew that Hermione was an accomplished Occlumens in her own right. She was better than Harry by far, but he was still worried for her.

"It's not important right now." Harry said giving voice to his thoughts. "How's the headache?"

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "It's fine now. The potion fumes just got to me. Why?" she asked.

"I was just worried is all." Harry said.

He stopped when Hermione stepped in front of him with her hands on her hips. "No, really, Harry, why?" she pressed. Harry opened his mouth to explain but his fiancée didn't give him the chance, once again seemingly reading his mind. "Professor Snape wasn't using Legilimency on me, Harry."

"Yeah... but he could have been." Harry argued.

Hermione huffed. "Harry, Snape's Legilimency is akin to an elephant in a china shop." she said. "I would have known."

"Still," Harry said, unwilling to drop the subject, "I worry for you. And I know you worry for me too."

Rolling her eyes with an entirely unforced fondness, Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss. "I'm a big girl, Harry, I can take care of myself."

Harry nodded. _Doesn't mean I won't stop trying, though._

* * *

Classes resumed as normal on Monday, though most people couldn't focus on their classes. As usual, the Hogwarts gossip mill was in full form, and rumours about the attack abounded. They ranged from the mundane, such as someone's project going wrong, to the outlandish; Mrs. Norris exploding (to explain the rumour of blood... why couldn't that one be true?). Harry was glad that no one seemed to suspect him, though he did catch a few speculative glances from Dumbledore during breakfast. Just what had Moody told the Headmaster anyway?

The only teacher who didn't seem to care about the distraction was Hagrid. He just plodded along with his class, pointedly ignoring any student that wasn't paying attention while he observed the Skrewts with the other students.

The Skrewts were about the size of terriers now, and Tom, Harry's male Skrewt had asserted its dominance over the other Skrewts by killing one of them. By the mixture of frustration and relief on Parvati's face (oddly enough, far more relief than frustration... she didn't seem that heartbroken... huh...) Harry guessed that it was hers.

Near the end of class, Harry received a letter from a nondescript brown school owl. Wondering just who it could be from as he took the letter from the bird, Harry remembered that Moody would be getting back to him about Crouch Junior's stay in Azkaban. A quick glance confirmed that it was indeed from Moody, but Harry didn't want to chance someone reading over his shoulder so he crumpled it up and stuffed the note in his pocket for later.

Once class was over, (Tom the Skrewt killed and ate Lavender's Skrewt too prompting Hagrid to give the horrid little things their own cages... Harry was oddly proud of little Tom) Harry took a detour and read the note.

_Potter_

_You were right. Crouch Jr. isn't in his cell, but his mother's desecrated corpse is._

_Moody_

"Well, at least that's consistent." Harry said wryly.

* * *

It seemed that the Ministry, in step with all its usual blundering, wished to keep Crouch's escape from prison a secret. This meant that the _Daily Prophet_ had _nothing_ on it and Harry didn't know whether to be relieved or irritated at the newspaper, settling for mild irritation. Harry wanted to talk to Moody about it, but wasn't able to catch up with him until that Thursday after class.

They had just started in on learning _Stupefy_, and more than once, Harry caught Moody looking at him while he gleefully stunned Malfoy or Ron from across the room.

Unfortunately, Moody didn't have time to discuss anything right then, but he promised to meet with Harry that weekend, which was a Hogsmeade weekend.

Harry also received a letter during dinner. Or, more accurately, a note from Sirius and a page and a half of parchment from Remus, all written in his tiny handwriting. Sirius' note was short and to the point, telling Harry that the other letter was from Remus and not to read it without a headache relief potion. When Harry started to read it, he understood why. The amount of technical talk and advanced Arithmancy and theories on what made someone's consciousness made Harry's eyes cross, and he hurriedly handed the letter to Hermione.

Without even pausing her dinner, Hermione took the letter from him and skimmed it over. Once she was done, she folded it up with one hand and gave it back. Hermione set her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin while Harry looked at her expectantly.

"Basically, it all boils down to; if someone truly believes that they are someone else at any given moment, the map will reflect that."

Harry blinked bemusedly for a moment. "So... Crouch might have multiple personalities?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Assuming that the bird really was Crouch and not just a horrible monster, yes."

_Wonderful,_ Harry thought. _The map _can_ be fooled... _But why would they even think to... of course... Wormtail. Suddenly, Harry wasn't very hungry.

* * *

The third Saturday of November was a cold, blustery day. It was also a Hogsmeade weekend. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that Harry and Hermione would be going together. They hadn't been to the all Wizarding village since their sixth year, and Harry was excited to see if anything had changed here. So, Harry woke early to get in the shower and down to breakfast before any of his other dorm-mates. The shower was relaxing, and once Harry was dressed, he met Hermione in the common room and they headed down to the Great Hall. Other than the weather, things the day looked to be off to a good start.

So, of course things had to go down hill from there.

Harry and Hermione were halfway through their breakfast, discussing what they wanted to see in Hogsmeade. Hermione had to play ignorant, since of course she had not been to the village before. It being her first year and all. But Harry managed to decipher that she wanted to visit the book shop and Honeydukes then relax at the Three Broomsticks. Harry wanted to check out the Quidditch store, Honeydukes then just wander the village. Eventually they decided to go Honeydukes, Quidditch store, book store, then wander before relaxing at the pub.

While they were discussing this, Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Someone was behind him. He turned around slowly, silently dreading what ever it was that was behind him, and looked up into the hopeful, blushing face of Michelle Black.

"Hi, Michelle." he said. In the back of his mind, Harry knew that what ever would come next was a very bad thing. "What's up?"

Michelle's blush seemed to intensify and she suddenly found the flagstone floor very interesting. In a very quiet voice, she stammered something that sounded like 'humblemumble', and then looked at Harry hopefully.

Harry knew what she wanted; to ask him to go to Hogsmeade with her. It was one thing to want to go with friends but quite another to want to go with someone as a date. He was sure that this was the 'date' kind of asking. Harry had to give the girl credit. Ginny had never bothered to work up the nerve to ask him on a Hogsmeade weekend, though to be fair; Harry wasn't the 'Boy-Who-Lived' here either. He could only imagine the nerves it would take to ask such a 'celebrity' to go on a date. Then again, maybe Michelle did see him in that light, though she was the only one.

A glance at Hermione told him that she was torn between being amused at his situation, and worried for Michelle. He looked back up at the hopeful blonde girl. "I'm sorry, Michelle." he said as kindly as possible. "I'm already going with Hermione."

It was strange, thought Harry, watching someone's hopes and dreams shatter. You could almost see it in the person's eyes. Michelle seemed to slump, and her eyes welled up with tears and Harry could tell that she was physically restraining herself from crying as she looked back and forth between him and Hermione. Surely she knew that he and Hermione was a couple? Didn't she?

Evidently not, if her reaction was any indication. Then again, she may have just held high hopes. Trying to keep Michelle from being too hurt, he said, "If you would like, you can go with us."

That seemed to break the damn, and Michelle hurried out of Great Hall without even saying good bye. Harry suddenly felt like a steaming pile of poo. Hermione scoffed lightly at him.

"What?" he hissed at her. "I was just trying to be friendly."

"Yes," Hermione argued, "but you could have used a bit more tact when handling her."

"What was I supposed to say? I'm sorry, maybe next time?" _Why are the female of the species so bloody difficult? _

"Well, no..." Hermione trailed off. "Look, I don't know how to handle young crying girls any more than you do. Perhaps you could have said that you would see her down there."

Harry raised a sceptical eyebrow at his fiancée. _She_ didn't know how to handle young crying girls? If his memory served him, and it usually did, wasn't she a young girl? If she wasn't crying now, she may have in the past. Harry just rolled his eyes and focused on finishing his breakfast. When he was done, he wiped his mouth and said, "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll apologise to her the next time I see her, alright?"

Hermione seemed to think that was acceptable. Once she had finished with her own breakfast, the two of them got up to leave for the village. Filch seemed to be particularly nasty with his probity probe and Harry started down the lane, rubbing his sore ribs.

"That is it." he groused. "No more pranks from me at all. Not if this is what I get for them."

If she wasn't nursing a sore shoulder, Hermione would have been laughing at him. She had been probed simply due to her association with Harry.

Halfway to the village, Holly finally managed to catch up with them. They stopped while she gasped and wheezed trying to catch her breath. "Did... anyone ever tell... you that... you walk too damn... fast?" she panted.

Harry smirked at her. "It comes from always being in a hurry, sorry. What's up?"

Finally catching her breath, Holly said, "Mum wanted me to tell you to meet her in the Three Broomsticks for lunch. Dad and Uncle Sirius will be there too."

That bit of good news went a long way to cheering Harry up. At least until Holly asked her next question. "Hey, what happened to Michelle this morning?" she asked. "She ran past me in tears when I was on my way to breakfast."

Harry suddenly felt like a shit again. "My fault." he droned. "She wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me today."

Holly sighed and rolled her eyes, whether at her brother, or at Michelle, Harry wasn't certain. "Want me to talk to her for you?" she offered.

"Oh god, yes please!" Harry begged. He still planned on apologising and explaining things between him and Hermione to her, but having his sister bat for him would go along way to smoothing things over.

With a nod, Holly bid them goodbye and hurried off to visit with her friends and find Michelle while Harry and Hermione did their shopping. Despite the weather, Harry rather enjoyed their visit. After a prolonged and almost excruciating visit to the book store where Harry had to physically drag his fiancée out (while some things had certainly changed with crossing dimensions, _that_ hadn't), they walked to the Three Broomsticks.

It seemed that they were early, since only James and Sirius were in the pub. The two Aurors were chatting amiably with each other and neither noticed Harry and Hermione arrive until they sat down. "Hey, Dad, Sirius." Harry said.

"Pronglet!" James exclaimed, reaching across the table to ruffle Harry's hair much to Sirius' amusement and Harry's ire. James turned to look at Hermione. "Who's this?" he asked kindly.

"Oh!" Harry realised that his father and Hermione had never met. Technically, neither had Sirius and Hermione, so he hurriedly introduced them. "Dad, Sirius, this is my fia... girlfriend, Hermione Granger."

Sirius winked at her, while James took her hand and said something in French that Harry didn't catch. Not that he spoke French in the first place, but he was sure that his father was flirting playfully with his fiancée. "All right, quit it, Casanova." Harry growled. Hermione seemed to find the situation very funny if her giggles were any indication.

"Hermione, these two over-aged children are my father, James and my godfather, Sirius Black." Harry finished.

"Pleased to meet you." Hermione said. "I've heard so much about you from Harry."

"So, you are the girl that had my son twittering all summer," James teased.

"I was not _twittering_. I have not, do not and will never 'twitter'." Harry protested.

While James, Sirius and Hermione chatted with each other, Harry shivered at the cold feeling that ran down his spine. He had just remembered that the story he fed his parents about Hermione was different from the story the entire school had about her. He was honestly surprised that his mother hadn't caught on yet. Glancing surreptitiously over his shoulder, he desperately hoped that none of his friends showed up. It could be very bad. But then again, he couldn't recall telling his parents just who the girl he had a crush on was. For all they knew, it was someone he had met last year. He would have to watch what was said around them.

It wasn't long before Lily and Holly showed up, but Harry found himself unable to enjoy his family since he was so tense and worried that someone would say something damning. Luckily for him, however, no one seemed to care about his and Hermione's relationship very much. Instead, they all wanted to talk about the Tri-Wizard fiasco, much to Harry's chagrin. But before they could start talking, Sirius had a question. "Hey, where's Michelle?"

Almost immediately, everyone at the table looked at Harry and he felt himself withering under the stares. "What?" he snapped.

Everyone started talking at once, but the general gist of it was that everyone who didn't already know thought it was Harry's fault. Which it was, but that wasn't the point. Harry didn't like everyone automatically assuming that it was his fault.

"Look, I said I would apologise for hurting her feelings after Holly calmed her down." he said with a pointed look at Holly.

Holly shrugged. "I couldn't find her in town." she explained. "She's probably in her dorm. I'll talk to her when we get back."

Somehow, whether it was her intent or not, Holly's words just made Harry feel worse. He didn't think that Michelle would take rejection badly enough that she had to go and cry in her room. Still, there was nothing to be done about it now.

"What about you, Harry?" James asked. "How are you coping with the tournament and all?"

"I'm fine, really." Harry answered back. He watched Sirius raise his eyebrows questioningly, and saw Hermione's expression mirror Sirius'. The two that knew him best, knew that, 'I'm fine' held too many connotations. But what they didn't know was that Harry really meant it this time. He was a bit angry that he had to go through with it all again, but he very well couldn't blurt that out at the table with the present company. And, with the knowledge and skill he had now, it shouldn't be too bad anyway.

"No, really." he pressed.

He was saved when Madam Rosmerta came over to take their orders. Harry desperately wanted a FireWhiskey, or something definitely harder than a Butterbeer, but had to make due since his parents were around. Once she went off to prepare their lunches, conversation resumed.

"Do you know what the first task is?" Sirius asked.

"We know it has something to do with dragons, since the clue Harry got was 'Saint George'." Hermione offered.

"We?"

Harry turned to his mother who had asked the question. "Yes, we. Nothing in the rules states that I can't have an advisor or help with this." he told her.

"Who's your advisor then?" Lily asked.

"Professor Moody."

James choked on his mead. "Professor Moody? As in, 'Mad-Eye'?"

"What other Professor Moody teaches at Hogwarts?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"How, in the name of Merlin, did you get him to help you?" James asked. Sirius had an inquisitive look on his face as well.

"Well..." Harry said, looking for an excuse that might work. "We made friends?" He had to forcefully keep himself from laughing at the look on his fathers face; a mixture of pride and disbelief while he spluttered in his drink.

"What did he have to say on the matter?" Lily asked, while James spluttered.

"He told me that I would have to, and I quote, 'Get cosy with Johnson,' the other Hogwarts champion." Harry said. "I honestly have no idea what he meant by that, other than we might have to work together."

"Maybe you have to rescue her?" Sirius offered with a shrug. "Or work with each other to rescue something."

"I don't think so." Hermione said. "In the story of Saint George and the dragon, Saint George rescued a princess from a plague spewing dragon. Saint George acted alone; he didn't have a partner."

"I remember that story, though it is different from what Hermione just said." Sirius said excitedly. "It was one of my favourites as a boy."

Everyone looked at him expectantly and Sirius told the Wizarding version of the tale of Saint George and the dragon. It was decidedly different from the Muggle version, in that there were no religious contexts, or damsels in distress. There was the fact that it actually happened too. A travelling knight, by the name of Richard St. George happened upon a mixed village of Muggles and magical folk. They were upset because a flight of dragons had made their new lair near their village and were eating the village's sheep and occasionally residents. The knight, who happened to be a wizard as well, drove the dragons off by contacting his friend, a dragon handler. The village rejoiced and St. George became a hero.

There were confused looks around the table as everyone pondered just how that tale would have anything to do with the first task. Unsurprisingly, it was Hermione who came up with the first idea. "Maybe... maybe they meant the Muggle version of it?" she asked hesitantly. Lily agreed

"There really isn't anything to derive a task from in the Wizarding version of the story," Harry's mother said. "Where as, in the Muggle version, or any variation there of, Saint George rescues a damsel after slaying the dragon."

"They wouldn't have me killing the dragon, would they?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Lily shook her head. "No. Killing a dragon without authorisation is a felony, isn't it James?" James nodded. "So killing is right out then. That leaves rescuing someone, since I doubt that they'll have you try and convert someone to Christianity."

"Regardless, our son has to go up against a dragon." James said to Lily. "So, any tips?"

They didn't get to share any tips for thwarting a dragon, since their food arrived. After they finished eating, however, the conversation turned back to the first task. Harry didn't pay much attention though. He had ways of dealing with a dragon. His transfiguration was top notch, and if he needed to, he would reveal just how skilled he was. He and Hermione could come up with an excuse later. If nothing else, he could simply overpower it with _stupefys_. Briefly, Harry wondered what kind of score he would get for knocking a dragon out.

"If you had an Animagus form-" James suggested but was cut off when Sirius choked on his drink. "You okay, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded while coughing and discreetly glancing at his godson. Harry wasn't paying attention though. He was distracted by his sister bouncing in her chair like a house elf on a sugar high.

Finally, things wound down. James left to go back to work after wishing his family well and giving them his love. Lily made a scene by kissing each of her children before retreating up to the castle to grade papers. Harry still didn't bother wiping his cheek though Holly seemed disgusted by the action. To Harry, each and every act of affection from his parents was a gift. Eventually, it was just Sirius, Holly, Harry and Hermione left at the table. Sirius turned to Harry and said, "So, how are things?"

Obviously he didn't want a rehash of what they talked about at the table. Harry was able to read between the lines and understood that Sirius wanted to talk about what they couldn't around James and Lily. Hermione decided to take her leave of them too, Harry and his sister to talk with their godfather. She kissed him goodbye and left the pub. "Well, I'm sure you heard about Crouch Jr.?" Harry asked. At Sirius' nod, he continued. "Well, he's been prowling the castle, either in animal form or polyjuiced as Malfoy."

"So, that's why you wanted to know if the map could be fooled." Sirius said with sudden realisation.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Did you hear about the... incident on the seventh floor the other day?"

"No."

Harry sighed, not being particularly proud of that fight. "Crouch, for whatever reason, decided to attack me. I kicked his arse, but just as I was about to stun him, he portkeyed away."

"So, it wasn't a prank gone wrong then?" Holly asked.

Harry turned to face her, an incredulous look on his face. "Is that what the rumours are saying now?" he sighed. Holly nodded. "How the hell did it all come back to me? I mean, it _is_ my fault and all, but... why am I suspect by default?"

Sirius and Holly both had matching rueful expression on their faces and refused to meet Harry's eye. "What?" Harry demanded.

"You... weren't the most rule abiding student your first three years," Holly muttered.

Harry rolled his eyes then buried his head in his folded arms on the table. "That's it." he groaned, gesturing vaguely. "Straight and narrow from here on out..."

Sirius snorted something that sounded suspiciously like, 'As if...'

* * *

Harry managed to catch up with Moody on his way back up to the castle. The professor stumped up to him, calling for Harry to wait. His claw footed wooden leg made strange squelching noises in the damp earth. "Potter." he said shortly. "Got a moment?"

"Sure." Harry said with a nod. "This about Crouch?"

Moody nodded back. "Aye, but let's not talk here." he said, his eye whirling in the socket. "My office."

Harry followed the Auror into the Defence office, and Moody closed the door behind them, taking a moment to cast a few secrecy spells over it. "You really kicked over an ant hill at the ministry with this one, Potter."

Harry had to fight the urge to argue with Moody. "Er... I'm sorry?" he offered lamely. "What's going on?"

Moody growled. "They don't want to acknowledge that Crouch escaped from Azkaban and are going to cover it up."

The thump of Harry's head banging off the desk in dismay echoed hollowly throughout the office. Never in his wildest dreams would he have suspected Madam Bones to be as corrupt and incompetent as Fudge. "Why?" he groaned.

"Why else?" Moody said back. "It's already common knowledge that You-Know-Who is back. The Ministry doesn't want it to get out that one of his followers has escaped from prison."

"Wonderful. Bloody wonderful," Harry groused. "What are we going to do then?"

Moody frowned at Harry. "I managed to convince the Headmaster that the incident on the seventh floor was me, and one of my... paranoia attacks." he said. When Harry raised an eyebrow at him, Moody smirked. "You look like you've bought into it too. I'm not as crazy as I lead people to think I am. It works for me."

Harry blinked bemusedly as this titbit of information sunk in. "Okay..." he said at length. "What about Crouch himself?"

"Just keep an eye out, Harry. It's what I'll be doing."


End file.
